Nothing can part us
by Metope
Summary: How did Regina and Daniel meet? And what would their life be like if Daniel wouldn't have died and if it would have been Cora instead of Regina who cast the curse of all curses, sending everyone to Storybrooke, including Regina and Daniel? AU StableQueen
1. Chapter 1

**_One_**

_Three years ago_

When lady Cora and sir Henry arrived home after their two week trip to one of the neighbouring estates, they didn't know what they saw when they entered their house. It seemed no one had been living in the house for the entire two weeks they had been gone, with the living room appeared to be nothing wrong, but the dining room proved something had happened. Chairs were on the ground, a vase lay broken on the ground next to a fallen shattered mirror. Blood stains could be seen on the table cloth that was on the ground too and as they opened the door to the kitchen, that had somehow been blocked with a chair they 'freed' their three maids and cook. On top of that, there was no sign of their daughter Regina whatsoever, and that worried the two more than the ravage that was their house...

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_Two weeks earlier_

Daniel was whistling a non-existing melody as he was on his way home. He had spent the night in the local pub where he had met his friends. Unlike his friends, he wasn't drunk, Daniel never got drunk, and that's why he got so confused when he thought he saw a horse standing in one of the dark side-streets. Wanting to know if he maybe had had a little too much to drink after all or that there really was a horse standing in the middle of the village he approached the animal and saw someone was lying on the back of the horse, unconscious, that was for sure.

Daniel let out a small gasp as he saw the person on the horse's back was a woman, or a girl actually for she couldn't be much older than fifteen. Slowly he lifted the girl off the horse's back and gasped as he saw her face. She had a black eye, a deep cut just above her lip that was still bleeding, several bruises that went down to her neck and chest and he now saw her wrist was swollen and blue too, which probably indicated it was broken. She was bare foot and because of that her toes were bleeding too. She was wearing what once must have been a rather beautiful and expensive dress but the fabric was ripped apart now, her corset was visible.

Daniel's lips turned into a thin line as he already knew with what intentions someone must have done this to the girl. He just hoped that the fact that the girl was now here on this horse meant that person hadn't gotten his way. He took the reins of the horse with his one free hand as he continued to carry the girl in his arms and started walking towards his home. It was too late to bring the girl somewhere so it was best to just take her home so he and his sister Alice could take care of her wounds. From there they could call a doctor.

* * *

As Regina slowly opened her eyes she stared up at a brown ceiling she didn't recognize as the ceiling of her bedroom. She slowly turned her head to look around and concluded that she didn't know where she was as all she saw was a wooden table with four chairs, a fireplace, a door, a window and a door that probably led to a bedroom, and all of that most certainly was not her home. She tried to sit up but let herself quickly fall back to the bed as she felt a sharp pain running through her arm at the attempt. As she looked at her right arm she saw it was put in splints. Suddenly she remembered what had happened and she felt her breathing quicken as she relived the past events.

"You're awake." She suddenly heard a woman's voice coming from across the room. Quickly she looked up as she saw the woman who must have just come in walking towards her. "Don't be afraid. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." The woman said as she saw the fear in Regina's eyes. "I'm just going to check on the wound on your forehead okay?"

Regina moved her hand up to where the blonde haired woman was pointing and let out a hiss as her hand was met with a bandage that was wrapped around her head. She hadn't felt it at first. "Yes, it's a pretty nasty cut you have there. Luckily it is healing better than the one above your lip. I'm afraid that one will leave a scar." The woman said as she went to sit on the bed next to Regina and carefully studied the wound. The calmness that spoke from the woman's blue eyes made Regina trust the woman so she let her. "I'm Alice." She said when she was done and she held out her hand.

Hesitantly Regina shook the hand. "Regina." She whispered.

"Well Regina." Alice said as she stood up from the bed and walked towards the stove that was in the corner of the room. "You've been sleeping for the past two days so I take it you must be hungry. I've got some soup for you." She said as she returned with a bowl of soup of some sort.

Alice was right Regina realised, she was hungry indeed. "Thank you." She answered as she gratefully took the bowl and started to eat. Alice smiled and turned away from the bed as she started to fold some laundry. "Alice.." Regina started after a while and continued as the woman turned to face Regina. "...how did I get here?"

Alice smiled. "My brother, Daniel, found you the other night. Your horse was standing in one of the side-streets of the village and when he walked over to the animal he saw you lying on its back, unconscious. He took you here so we could call a doctor and take care of you. You were in a pretty bad condition. You have a broken wrist, several bruises that have turned a 'nice' colour purple by now and then there are the head wound and the cut above your lip. But other than that you're fine. You're tough, you know, you've all these wounds but luckily the bastard who did this to you didn't get his way with you."

Regina felt herself turn red. "You know what happened?" She asked in a voice that wasn't more than a whisper.

"Honey. I may be no genius, but I'm not stupid." She smiled. "Those bruises, the state of your dress... I didn't need more. But apparently you fought him successfully."

Regina couldn't help but let out a sob as Alice mentioned all of this. "O honey." Alice said as she walked over to Regina and pulled her into a hug. "Don't cry. You're safe here. It's over now."

Regina leaned in to the woman holding her. "I was so scared." She whispered. "There was no one to help me, I don't know if he had barricaded the kitchen door or that the maids couldn't hear me...and then I saw one of the heavy dishes still laying on the table and hit him with it and ran away. I took one of the horses but I don't know anything about horseback riding, it was just the fastest way to get away..." Alice just rocked the girl in her arms back and forth as a small smile appeared on her face, maids, _one_ of the horses, this was no ordinary girl, she thought. "Well honey, it's okay now."

* * *

A few hours later Daniel arrived home. "Look who is awake." Alice said happily as she greeted him. Daniel immediately turned towards Regina and smiled. "Great to see you awake." He smiled as he walked over to the bed. "I'm Daniel."

"I'm Regina." Regina answered shyly. "Thanks for finding me." She then added.

Daniel pursed his lips. "Well, you're welcome. Although something like that shouldn't have happened to you in the first place, of course."

Regina blushed. "Now you're awake. Do you have a place to go?" Daniel asked. "It's not that we want you to go or anything" He added quickly. "But I can imagine that someone, your parents for example, are looking for you?"

"My parents are away on a trip. They won't be back for another two weeks." Regina replied. "I stayed home alone. First they wanted me to go with them, but I assured them I would be fine, that nothing would happen, that the staff could take care of me. Well, no way that they are ever going to let me stay home alone after this again." Regina laughed sarcastically.

"Do you know – do you remember who did this to you?" Daniel asked then.

"No." Regina said as she shook her head. It was a lie, but she couldn't possibly tell them it had been one of the lords her father was friends with? They couldn't know who she was. Her mother never let her out of the house or visit the village. It was dangerous, she said, once the people would know who she was she wouldn't be safe. And that's why none of the villagers knew about the daughter of their landlord. They knew he had one of course, but they didn't know her name or what she looked like. That way Regina's safety would be guaranteed, Cora always said, and it would make sure Regina's only contact would be with possible suitors, Regina thought sarcastically. As for this potential danger, it seemed to her that these village people were much nicer and safer than 'her own kind', as Cora called it, turned out to be.

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Cora was sitting in her chair in the living room waiting for her husband to come back. He had gone over to the kitchen to ask their staff if they knew what had happened. He always was better in communicating with them, so she let him do the job.

She turned her head towards the door as she heard Henry coming back, the paleness of his face told her he didn't come with good news. "And?" She asked.

"They have been locked up down there for two weeks." Henry started. "The cook told me lord Paterson had stopped by that day around dinner time. It had started to rain so Regina had no choice but to let him stay for dinner until the rain would stop. When he was going up to bring dessert to them he suddenly found the door to be locked, the back door was locked too. So there they were, the entire staff was downstairs. And..." Henry swallowed "...he told how he suddenly heard screaming coming from upstairs. I asked him if he thought it had been Regina and he thought it was. He said they had heard stumbling and things falling and more screaming and then suddenly everything went quite again. Wh- What are you doing Cora?" Henry asked then as Cora's hand started to glow purple.

"I'm going to turn back the time in this house so we can see what has happened. It's tricky so I rather had seen it hadn't been necessary, but as no one obviously has really seen what has happened there is no other choice." And before Henry could protest the scenery changed and they saw Regina lazily hanging on the couch as she was reading a book.

_"Dinner will be served in half an hour, milady." One of the maids entered the room._

_Regina nodded. "Thank you Marie." She said as she sent the girl a smile and went to sit up straightening the simple dress of blue fabric she was wearing. It was nothing special, she was sure her mother wouldn't approve._

"Ugh – I don't even know where she got that horrible plain dress she's wearing." Cora said annoyed as she and Henry observed the situation. Henry wanted to say he thought the dress looked rather nice as they heard knocking on the front door.

_Surprised Regina looked up. "Who would ever visit at this time." Marie came back in. "Milady, lord Paterson at the door." Regina quickly followed the maid to the hall where said man was waiting._

_"Lord Paterson." She started._

_"Lady Regina, you grow prettier every time I see you." The man greeted her as he kissed her hand and made Regina blush uncomfortably and frown as she smelled the alcohol in his breath. _

_"If you're here for my father, I'm afraid he won't be here. He and my mother are gone for a trip to one of the our neighbours, they will be back in about 14 days I'd say."_

_"O that is a shame." The man replied. "I had hoped your father would be here indeed. I was travelling through your land and I saw it is going to rain soon. Not in the mood for getting wet and having to have to talk about business with your father anyways I thought I could stop by here."_

_Regina suppressed an annoyed sigh as she perfectly understood what the man was hinting on. Unfortunately she couldn't say no, it wasn't the proper thing to do. "Well, I was just about to have dinner. You could join me? I am sure the rain will have stopped by the time dinner's finished and you could continue your journey afterwards?" She said as she put up a fake smile._

"I taught her well." Cora stated. "She doesn't want to have dinner with him at all but she knows she cannot send him back outside again."

"He's drunk though." Henry said worried.

Cora huffed. "That man isn't worth his title."

_Dinner passed rather awkwardly. The occasional small talk was being said but Regina didn't feel at ease at all. She wasn't stupid, she knew the man had had too much to drink already and now he had asked for more wine. When she had carefully asked if he didn't want something else to drink he had just laughed at her as he had poured himself a glass full of red wine. After the main course he had gotten up from his chair and excused himself, saying he had left something important in his coat._

_As Marie and the new maid didn't come to clean up the plates Regina decided she would do it herself, the sooner this dinner was over the better, she thought, it had stopped raining already. She was standing with her back to the door getting their plates together as she suddenly felt someone standing behind her touching her arm. _

_"You've become quite a beautiful young lady, Regina." She heard lord Paterson say in her ear. Quickly she set a step to the right so she was out of the man's reach._

_"I – I don't know what is taking the cook so long to bring dessert up." She said, choosing to ignore the comment. Paterson followed Regina and grabbed her arm again. "Well I can think of another type of dessert I would like right now and it's right here in this room."_

_"Wh-what?" Regina shrieked. "Could you please let go of my arm, you- you're hurting me."_

_"O come on now." The man slurred. "You know you want this too, why else did you invite me for dinner?"_

_"F- for the rain and...let go of me...you're drunk and.." Regina panicked as she tried to pull her arm out of the man's strong grip. She looked towards the door hoping one of the maids would come in soon. _

_"O no, no one is going to interrupt us, I made sure of that." He slurred as he pressed her body against him. Regina let out a small whimper as she tried to pull herself away from him again. Suddenly she pushed the heel of her shoe as hard as possible in his foot. He instantly let go of her as he let out a groan of pain and set a few steps back, knocking one of her mother's vases over in his way. Regina quickly ran towards the door but before she had even reached it Paterson was blocking her way again. She let out a desperate cry confused about how quick he could be at the door again. _

_She continued to scream as he now grabbed her at her waist and violently pulled her down on the table as he slammed her arms back on either side of her head. She let out a groan of pain as he did so; he was twisting her right wrist in a way she knew it couldn't be twisted. He now climbed on her and she tried to kick him off of her but without any luck. It only caused her to get sla__pped in the face. He now grabbed her face in his hands and pressed his lips on hers, she violently shook her head causing his ring to rip open the skin above her lip._

_ "Now stay still!" He yelled as he started to practically rip open her dress as she was still struggling to get out. Tears were freely falling down her face as she gave up for a moment, too exhausted and discouraged because she didn't seem to be able to move away from him even one inch. He was kissing her neck now. Then suddenly she saw one of the heavy dishes was still on the table, she reached out and managed to grab it with her left hand. With all the power she had still in her she slammed the dish on his head, knocking him out immediately. Quickly she pushed him off her and let herself fall from the table, her legs too weak at first to keep herself up. With eyes filled with fear and pain she stared at the now limb body of the man, she was wondering if she had killed him. She didn't know what she should do now. _

_Run..she then thought. I've to get out of here, I have to get away from here and so she headed outside ignoring the pain in her wrist, head and actually her entire body. She had lost her shoes somewhere in the struggle but she couldn't care less, she continued to ran until she reached the stables. Quickly she led one of the horses out of the stables and clumsily climbed on his back for she had never been on a horse before. She somehow managed to stay on its back as the horse now galloped away from the house in the direction of the village._

_ Regina didn't look back one time, too afraid of the possibility Paterson had woken up and was coming after her. She just focused on the road before her and was wondering how she was ever going to make the horse stop again because she had no idea what she was doing. Her head was pounding by now and she rested her head on the horse to regain her strength, however she felt her body grow heavy and slowly her eyes fell closed as the horse continued to run towards the city, carrying the girl on his back._

Cora breathed in slowly as the scenery changed back to the living room she and Henry were in. She felt how Henry touched her arm and wiped one of her tears away, it took their daughter to be almost raped for them to be the closest they had been in years she thought ironically, but she let him. "I will send one of my man to Paterson's land." Henry said, trying to control the anger that was clearly audible in his voice. He isn't here anymore, so he must have gotten up and have headed home. I'll make him pay for this."

Cora nodded. "Come back quick." She said. "We need to find our daughter."

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Regina was sitting in the local pub with Alice and Daniel and a couple of their friends. She was really enjoying herself. Here she was in a real pub with real _normal_ people, nothing dangerous about them at all, she thought. Lost in thought she touched the cut above her lip.

"Does it still hurt?" Daniel asked concerned as he watched her.

Regina shook her head. "No." She said with a smile. "I was just thinking, that's all."

"What about?"

"About that this is really nice."

"What do you mean?" Daniel asked confused.

"Just _this_. Being here, with you, having fun, like normal people." Regina said in an honest voice.

Daniel smiled at her. What wouldn't he give to find out where this girl came from. She didn't talk a lot about her life. It was clear she didn't want to so Daniel didn't push her but he sure was curious. It was pretty obvious by now she wasn't exactly from here. She sometimes talked about 'the cook back home', or 'their maid Marie', which already indicated she must come from a rich family. But it was the fascination in her eyes as she watched Daniel and Alice do their every day chores that really gave it away. She was fifteen but couldn't cook, do laundry or any of the things the girls in the village around the age of fifteen did. She was a quick learner though and Alice was more than happy to teach her. When she was strong enough to go outside she sometimes joined him as he went to the local stables. He helped out their temporarily with the horses, while he was searching for a better job or the possibility to become a stable boy in a place that paid better. When his boss didn't watch he learned Regina how to ride.

"Well I'm glad we're entertaining to you." Daniel teased.

"That's not what I meant." Regina immediately blushed. "You know that." She continued as she punched him playfully against his arm.

He laughed as he ruffled her hair in a way just as playful. "Stop that." She laughed. "You're ruining my hair!"

"O don't worry. Even with ruined hair you still look beautiful." Daniel added but he immediately regretted his comment as he felt her body tense next to him. Even though she appeared to be okay, Regina clearly hadn't fully dealt with the events. At night she had nightmares about it and she couldn't deal with remarks about her appearance, even as innocent as the one he just made.

Suddenly the pub went quite as men of lord Henry entered and, to Daniel's surprise they were followed by both lord Henry and lady Cora herself. It was probably her appearance that made everyone shut up, for Cora wasn't known for her kindness. But if that hadn't already made Daniel's eyebrows raise the following did.

The moment Regina saw lord and lady enter the pub she jumped up from the bench she had been sitting on. "Daddy! You're back!" She exclaimed as she ran over to the man and wrapped her good arm – for the other was still in splints – around the man. The man returned the hug and held her tight. When the lord released the girl who apparently was his daughter, Regina turned towards lady Cora. Regina stood a little bit awkward facing her mother not knowing if she could hug the woman in public too, so she was happy when Cora set a step forward and pulled her daughter in a hug, making the decision for her.

"O dear look at you." Cora said with watery eyes as she took Regina's face in her hands. The wound on her head had healed nicely but she indeed had a scar above her lip and the several bruises that were in her face, neck and chest had turned a dark colour of green. "Come we'll take you home." Cora said as she gestured towards the door.

"O but mother, daddy, you – we first have to thank Daniel and Alice." Regina said as she gestured over to brother and sister who were staring at the little family reunion the same way as everyone else in the diner was doing: in total surprise. "They saved me. They called a doctor for me." Regina explained.

Cora put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Your father will make sure they will be thanked appropriately dear, you come with me now." And she left the pub again, Regina followed obediently after she had shortly waved to Alice and Daniel.

After a while Henry also left the pub and entered the carriage. "What did you say to them, daddy?" Regina asked while she was leaning against Cora who had wrapped her arm around her daughter.

"I told them how grateful I and your mother are that they took care of you. That I would think about a proper thank you and will return to them in a week." Henry answered truthfully.

Regina smiled softly. "Thank you daddy." She said and then snuggled more against her mother. "You know. Maybe Daniel could come work in our stables?" She then said.

"And why is that?" Henry asked. "The stableman we now have can take care of the horses we have?"

"Yes but...our current stableman is old and will retire in a year or so... And Daniel is actually looking for a job and he was learning me how to ride. I really like it. So I thought, if you hire him, they can share the job at first while Daniel teaches me how to ride and after he can take over?"

Henry looked over to Cora to see what she thought. Cora nodded. "Learning how to ride couldn't hurt indeed." Cora remarked.

Henry nodded. "I'll make sure it will been taken care of then."

* * *

"Regina sit down." Cora said as Regina entered the living room here parents were sitting in after she had changed the clothes she had borrowed from Alice for one of her own dresses.

Regina nodded as she went to sit on the couch next to her mother. "You want to know what happened." She stated while she stared at her hands.

But Cora shook her head. "Honey, we – we know what happened. I used magic to replay the events that had happened."

Regina's eyes widened. "You saw?" She asked in disbelieve as her cheeks turned red.

"Regina, it's okay." Henry started but his daughter shook her head.

"I feel so embarrassed!" She cried as she backed away from both of them.

"But Regina, sweetheart. There is nothing for you to be embarrassed about. It wasn't your fault." Henry tried to calm her down.

"Well except for wearing that dress maybe." Cora now remarked.

"What?" Both Henry and Regina asked.

"Why yes. That dress, I don't even know where you got it, it was too simple. It made you look like a commoner. If you would have dressed like I taught you he may have never done anything because he would have realised who he was dealing with."

Regina let out a gasp of disbelieve. "Well I'm sorry mother." She then said in a sarcastic voice. "I'm sorry I wasn't wearing a gown I could have worn to meet the King on a rainy night when I was home alone and not expecting anyone to stop by. How stupid of me, I should have known that it makes it perfectly okay for _pigs_ like that man to – to do _that_ to people if they're not dressed like that. Gee, what was it that made me think otherwise."

"Regina, that was not what I meant." Cora tried. "It's never alright for anyone to act the way that man did. I'm just saying..."

"I don't want to hear what you're saying mother." Regina answered. "You're wrong. I'm going to sleep now." And with that Regina left the room, she was half expecting her mother would call her back with magic, but she didn't, and Regina was grateful for that.

* * *

Both Cora and Henry woke up with a start when they heard a loud scream going through the house. "It's Regina." Cora breathed as she quickly got out of bed and made her way to Regina's room, followed by Henry.

As Cora entered the room and magically created some light they saw Regina lying on the ground next to her bed covers wrapped around her legs, and she was wildly turning, making herself more trapped in them. "Nooooo..." she cried. "Go away. Let me go!"

Quickly Cora walked over to her daughter and tried to wake her. "Regina. Wake up. Regina you're having a nightmare, it's not real. You're safe, please honey." But no matter what Cora said, Regina didn't wake up.

Henry now walked past Cora and took his daughter in his arms, she struggled at first, but slowly she woke up and as she looked up in her father's eyes she pressed her head against his chest and cried. Cora eyed the scene with a mixture of relieve that her daughter woke up and jealousy that she hadn't been able to pull Regina from the nightmare...

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_Present day (being three years after the above mentioned) _

"Are you sure you want to do this, dearie?" The imp asked as he let out one of the evil laughs that almost were his trademark.

"Yes. If I'm not able to lead my daughter to the path of greatness in this land. Then maybe I need another land and a clean slate to try again."

The imp giggled. "Then here you go dearie, do exactly as it says and you'll have your 'clean sssslate'" He stretched the last word a bit. "But remember...all magic comes with a prize."

* * *

**So what do you all think? Please ****review**** because I have to know whether this story is worth to continue or that I just wrote almost 5000 words of total crap ****!**

**I'm sorry for grammar and spelling mistakes, I usually reread the next day, but some mistakes are simply there because English is not my native language, excusez-moi ;).**

**Oh and btw, title suggestions are very very welcome cause this title kinda sucks xD**

**x**

**Metope**


	2. Chapter 2

_****_**Two**

_Three years ago_

"And Daddy did you get to speak to Daniel today?" Regina asked as she happily hugged her father who just came home.

"I did sweetheart." Henry answered.

"O wonderful. When is he coming?" The girl beamed as she jumped around her father.

"When is who coming?" Cora now asked as she watched her husband and daughter enter the living room. She smiled when she saw Regina this happy, since the accident she had been acting rather timid. She was easily scared and not as spontaneous as she had before when she met new people.

"Honey, please sit down." Henry gestured to the couch Cora was sitting on and Regina obediently went to sit next to her mother.

"Regina dear, "Henry said as he himself went to sit down in a chair. "I'm afraid Daniel won't be our new stable boy."

"Why not?" The girl asked with big questioning eyes.

"Because he declined the job offer."

Regina shook her head. "O no daddy. I'm sure you misunderstood. You see, Daniel was looking for a job when I stayed there. So unless, like, the king has offered him a job, he can't possibly have declined your offer. He couldn't be any happier to move out, he's living with his sister now you know, and with this offer he could come to live here on the land in time. And – "

"Regina dear, you're rambling and I believe your father wasn't done talking yet." Cora said as she softly put a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

Regina sighed. "I'm sorry daddy."

"It's okay sweetheart, I get that you are disappointed. But he made it really clear to me he didn't want the job. I asked him if he had found a job elsewhere then. He said that wasn't the case but that he simply couldn't accept the job because he would have to leave his sister. I said she could come to live with us too, but he said that wasn't an option. So I respected his wishes and left."

Regina shook her head. "I don't understand. When we were in the stables he always kept saying how much he wanted to have a place of his own. Away from Alice, just so he would have something of his own for once! It's not about that, he's lying."

"Now Regina I wouldn't accuse someone of lying just because he didn't do what you wanted him to do, that's not very fair." Cora reprimanded her daughter.

But Regina shook her head as angry tears appeared in her eyes. "No it's not about that. It's about me, about us. You always said I couldn't go into the village because it was dangerous, mother. That I should stay close to the house and should only let myself in with people you approve of. But that's not how it is, is it? You just think all village people are commoners, that we're too good for them. But that's not the case mother, when I was there…I've never met people that were kinder to me when they first met me than them. They are honest and, and _genuine_ in their emotions. Not like all those nobles who are just kind to me and to everyone else but tell lies about you as soon as you turn around!"

"Regina, I don't want you to speak in that tone of voice, young lady." Cora said as she slightly raised her voice.

"No I'm not _done_ yet!" Regina now yelled. "Because the thing is, I always thought my parents were _good_ people, that you were different from those horrible people I always have to talk to on balls and other stupid public events! But that's not at all the case, _you_ mother are _feared_ in the village. They say _awful_ things about you in the pubs, they're all lies of course, but…first I just didn't listen to it, but then I thought, there has to be a reason why they talk about you like that… And actually, the only thing I _am_ grateful for, is that you told me the village people couldn't know who I am. They were talking about me too there, about that no one knew who I was or what I looked like and…and I know that if I would have told them who I really was, they would never have helped me. Either as a way of revenge or because they would be scared. So thank you _very_ much for making sure that practically _everyone_ already _hates_ me before I even got to meet them myself. And the fact that Daniel doesn't want to take the job you offered him daddy, is the proof of that! And – hwuaa" Regina suddenly felt how her feet were lifted off the ground. "Mother!" She yelled furiously. "Put me down! This is not fair!"

Cora shook her head as her eyes were dark with anger. "O no Regina. You went _too_ far. What isn't fair is that you talk to your parents like that. Now apologize and go to your room, we'll discuss your punishment later."

But Regina shook her head. "No I'm not going to apologize for something _you_ did to me, not the other way around… Mother!" She then screamed as she felt how strong leather ties wrapped around her, her mother had never done that to her before.

"Cora, calm down please." Henry said as he stood up and walked towards his wife. "And Regina," he continued, "You have to apologize. You cannot talk about your mother that way. And honestly I don't understand why you are this upset, we can hire someone else to teach you how to ride."

Regina let out a frustrated groan. "You don't get it! It's about the fact that _all_ you ever told me, what you _taught_ me about the world, it was all a lie. It was just so I wouldn't find out the truth. And here I was wondering why they were talking so badly about you, feeling angry they were doing so, well I now sure understand why everyone was talking about you that way!" Regina ignored the ties that were wrapping tighter around her. "O yes, choke the breath out of me mother!" She screamed furiously. "That will proof me wrong. Did you do this to some of the village people to?"

"Cora!" Henry now set angrily and as if stung by a bee Cora seemed to snap out of the anger she was feeling as she instantly let go of the magic that was holding her daughter. Regina landed back on her feet again and as soon as she had the control over her own body back she ran away, not listening to her father who was calling her to come back.

* * *

Daniel opened the door after several knocks were placed on the wood on the other side and Alice didn't seem to go get the door either. He let out a small gasp as he saw Regina standing in front of him. "Lady Regina." He breathed. "What can I do for you."

"O don't be ridiculous, talking to me like that." The brunette snapped as she let herself into his house.

"Lady Regina." Alice started with a nervous smile as she saw the girl wasn't in a good mood. "Only this morning your father came to visit us and now you're honouring us with a visit again. What can we…do…for you…" Alice voice trailed off as Regina now turned to face her and Alice was slightly taken aback by the anger in the young girl's eyes.

"Seriously? You're all going for the formal approach now too? As if I haven't lived with you for two weeks and, and, you taught me how to cook, and _you_," she now turned towards Daniel again who was still standing at the door. "…taught me how to ride. And you were talking about how much you wanted to find a job that paid well, so you could get your own place and everything. And then my father comes home and he tells me you _declined_ his offer, because you couldn't leave Alice behind!?" Regina's voice had raised about two octaves by now. "Do you honestly think, now you know who I am, that I am _that_ stupid? You should have just told me – my father – the truth. That you don't want to work for him because you hate my parents, and so you hate me. That's what you should have done!" Regina stamped her foot on the floor, angry at herself as she felt tears fall down her cheeks.

"Regina, "Daniel started. "I don't hate you."

"Of course you do. Everyone here does, just like they hate my mother for being cruel and my father for doing nothing about it, and they hate me for not knowing who I am. And ironically not knowing who I am was enough for them to make their mind up about me. And you did too, I can see it, the way you two now look at me, with that mixture of fear and curiosity in your eyes. And that's _fine_ do whatever you want, but don't _lie_ about it. And know that it is _not _who I am. My entire life my parents told me the village is dangerous and that all of you were dangerous and unkind too. But when I came here I saw that was not true so I _changed_ my opinion based on what I had seen with my own eyes, and not based on what I was told…." Regina let out a shaky breath and then regally turned around and walked towards the door. "That was it." She said and before Daniel even registered what was happening she had opened the door herself and left the house as brother and sister watched the young girl in her expensive pink dress enter her carriage again as she gave orders to leave.

When Regina got home she went straight up to her room, completely ignoring her parents who demanded to know where she had gone off to without their permission. She had felt Cora's magic tingle around her and was half expecting to be lifted into the air again but nothing happened. Her father must have convinced Cora to leave her be for the night.

* * *

The next morning it was her mother herself who entered her bedroom to wake her up instead of their maid Marie.

"Regina," Cora said in a gentle voice. "Wake up dear, everyone is up already and there is someone here for you."

"Hmhmm- who?" Regina murmured sleepily.

"The new stable boy who is going to teach you how to ride." Cora said with a smile.

"I don't want to ride." Regina pouted.

"Yes you do. I know you do. Now come on, breakfast is ready for you downstairs." And with that Cora got up and left, she waited for a while just outside the room until she heard her daughter let out a deep sigh and heard the ruffling of the covers she threw off herself. With a smile on her face Cora continued her daily routine, as she knew Regina would be very pleased with the new stable boy.

"O." Regina gasped as she entered the stables. Eventually curiosity had won over stubbornness and she had decided she could just go and see who this new stable boy was.

"Lady Regina." Daniel said as he turned around to face her with a smile.

"I thought I had made rather clear yesterday I don't like it when you call me that." She said with a smile. "What made you change your mind?" She then asked.

"You did." Daniel answered as he set a step in her direction. "I want to apologize, I never meant to hurt you and it was wrong of me to let my opinion of you change once I knew who you were. I should have made up my mind about you by the past two weeks we spent together. I should have listened to myself, to what my heart told me."

Regina couldn't help but smile. "And what did your heart tell you?"

"That it would be very nice to live on the lord's estate, to get to take care of this amazing stable and to get to teach his daughter how to ride. Because I've taken quite a liking to her, and I don't _hate _her, despite what she might think."

"Well then let's get started." Regina beamed.

* * *

_Present time_

"What prize will I have to pay for this curse? And to what other world will this curse take us?" Cora asked with an icy voice.

"That depends, dearie. You'll lose what you love the most. And that will also decide what world we'll all be living in." Rumplestiltskin answered.

"Then what is the use of me doing all this?" Cora asked angrily. "I'm doing this to get my daughter back, of what use will this curse be if I will have to lose her in order to cast it?"

"Really dearie? Is your daughter truly what you hold most dear?" the imp asked as he walked around her. "Why is it you want your daughter back, dearie?"

"So she can have everything that I didn't have. So she can become powerful –"

"Ah there it is. It isn't all about your daughter, isn't it? All of this is so she can become powerful, because when she is, you will be too."

"So when I cast the curse I'll lose my power then? I will lose my magic? Then how can I help her to become great?"

"_That_, dearie, is for you to find out. We'll be transported to a world with_out_ magic, _that_ will be your prize to pay. But of course that doesn't mean you can't be powerful there. The curse will allow you to design the past in that world of your family, myself and two other people you choose to your liking. Use that knowledge wisely, dearie." And then the imp was suddenly gone, leaving Cora alone standing in the dark forest.

* * *

**Wow I'm really happy with all the reviews you left me! And welcome new followers :)!**

**This isn't a very long chapter, but it was better to cut what I had into two than to post one veeerrry long chapter. I hope you like it, please review, and ideas are always welcome :)!**

**x**

**Metope**


	3. Chapter 3

**Three**

_1,5 years ago_

"And, how was your dance thing?" Daniel asked as Regina entered the stables.

"My _debutante_ ball you mean." Regina corrected him as she walked to her horse and started brushing him. "It was nice. I danced and well I wore a nice dress."

"Oh, that's good." Daniel said as he was brushing his own horse. "You don't really look like you had a fun night though."

Regina sighed. "O who am I kidding. I wasn't having any fun at all. It was just horrible." She exclaimed as she stopped brushing her horse and leaned with her back against the wall.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Daniel asked as he walked over to her and went to stand next to her.

"It's just…I have to dance with all these men. And at first it's kind of nice I suppose. I mean, I like dancing and we just talk about everything and nothing…" Regina's voice trailed off as her eyes stare blankly at the horse in front of her.

"But?"

"But _then_ they start saying things that are considered 'nice'." She continued. "Like, o you dance very well, or 'you look very pretty milady' and…they just shouldn't _say_ such things!" The brunette's cheeks flushed red with anger.

"Why not?" Daniel asked calmly. "I sometimes say you look pretty too, and you don't seem to bother then?"

"Yes, but that's because _you_ say it." Regina said as she now turned to look at Daniel. "When you say it I know you mean it, _you_ I can trust. But with those men…I can't help but think…" Regina swallowed trying to keep the tears at bay.

"…about that one night." Daniel said with a sad smile as he gently put an arm around Regina and pulled her to him. "Don't worry Regina. I won't let anything like that happen to you ever again."

Regina let out a sarcastic laugh. "And how were you planning on doing that? Going with me to every ball? My mother would never allow that…my mother…doesn't understand any of this at all."

"Did you try to talk to her?"

"I did. But she just doesn't understand. She says I have to get over it, that it's more than a year ago and that it's in the past. She just doesn't get it, she gets none of it. We're fighting all the time and her punishments get more severe with every fight we have…"

"What do you mean with that Regina?" Daniel asked worried as he looked into the dark brown eyes of the girl next to him. For a second those eyes widened, as if she had said something she wasn't supposed to, but it was gone just as quick. "Nothing." Regina said and she walked away from Daniel to her horse. "Come, let's go." And Daniel knew this was her way of saying she was done talking, and he respected that, for now…

* * *

Daniel wouldn't have to wait long to find out what Regina had meant with Cora's punishments becoming more severe. That afternoon he would have a riding lesson with Regina, she was late however and when he left the stables he saw why. A few meters away from the stables, the brunette and her mother were clearly in an argument. Her father was standing next to the two women trying to calm them down but without any luck. Suddenly Regina turned around and walked away and Daniel's eyes widened at what happened next. Cora raised her hand and suddenly Regina was hovering in the air. Regina yelled at her mother, probably demanding to be let down, but instead of listening to her daughter Cora moved her hand almost invisibly and out of nowhere appeared leather ties that wrapped around Regina. The girl was crying now and was asking her mother again to let her down. As soon as Cora did, Regina ran away in the directions of the stables Daniel saw, so quickly he went back in, making sure Cora wouldn't see he had watched the entire ordeal.

As soon as Daniel saw Regina, who was desperately trying to hide what just had happened, enter the stables, Daniel waked over to her and pulled her in a tight hug. Regina started to cry immediately and all Daniel did was holding her as close to him as possible. "How long has she been doing this, Regina?" He asked her softly when the girl had calmed down a little.

"For months now." Came a muffled voice from the brunette who still had her face buried in Daniel's shoulder, she then pulled her head back a little so she could look at him. "She's been away more, practicing magic; she's become different, colder. She never hurt me like that when we had a fight when I was little, but lately all we do is fighting, and every time she punishes me like this. And daddy…daddy does _nothing_ to stop it." Regina sobbed as she leaned her head against Daniel's chest again.

Daniel wrapped his arms even tighter around the small girl and in that moment vowed that he would try to protect Regina from all the harm in the world as well as he could.

* * *

_6 months later_

"O Regina, dear. Daniel asked me to tell you that he had to cancel your riding lesson of today." Henry said as Regina entered the dining room for breakfast.

"Oh." Regina said, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice as she formally greeted her mother and then pressed a kiss on her father's cheek. "Why is that?" She asked as she sat down.

"He said something had come up unexpectedly. I think it has something to do with the woman that arrived this morning. Probably his wife." Henry said without looking up from his breakfast.

"Woman?" Regina asked confused. "Are you sure it wasn't Alice, his sister? Because Daniel isn't married, daddy."

"No, it wasn't his sister, I remember her and this woman looked nothing like her." Henry answered.

"Well you have to be mistaken then." Regina answered stubbornly. "Because it can't be his wife, he doesn't have one."

"Well dear, maybe she isn't his wife yet but is she soon to become?" Cora now asked sweetly.

Regina felt her cheeks turn red. "He would have told me." She said as she stared at her food.

"Sweetheart, isn't that a little presumptuous of you? Daniel isn't obliged to tell you anything about his personal life. He's a young man, about nineteen years old, it's time for him to settle down. He has no time nor is he obliged to speak through his plans with the seventeen year old daughter of the lord he works for." Cora remarked.

"I'm not hungry." Was Regina's response as she left the table while she felt Cora's eyes burning in her back at her odd behaviour.

* * *

When Regina reached the little house Daniel lived in she saw her father had been right. In front of the house was Daniel standing, and he wasn't alone. As a matter of fact he was embracing a rather beautiful woman. Regina couldn't help but feel tears welling in her eyes. Over the past months she and Daniel had become very close friends, and since Daniel had comforted her after he had seen Cora punish her, Regina couldn't help but feel a little more than love based on friendship for the handsome stable boy. She felt betrayed. How could Daniel not have told her about this? She told him _every_thing, and she had thought he did too. She saw how the woman went back into the house and just as she started to walk back she heard Daniel call her name after her. She just shook her head and continued walking while tears ran down her cheeks.

"Regina!" She now heard closer behind her and she felt a hand on her arm that turned her around. "You're crying." Daniel remarked as he saw her face.

"No I'm not." Regina answered. "I just had something in my eye…both of them..." If not the lousy excuse hadn't betrayed her already her unsteady voice did.

"That's not true, Regina. Come on tell me what is it? Is it Cora? Did she hurt you again?"

Regina shook her head while she avoided looking Daniel in the eyes. "Nothing, just go back Daniel. Your _guest_ is waiting." She stretched the word guest just a little, but it was enough for Daniel to pick it up and an amused smile appeared on his face.

"Ahhh, so that is what this is all about." He said as he softly caressed her arms with his hands.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Regina replied, still not looking at him.

"You know…my _guest_ over there. That´s my niece, she came to visit me and it has been about four years since the last time I saw her, so I´m very happy she is here."

"Oh." Was all Regina said as she felt how her cheeks flushed red out of shame that she had made such a scene out of nothing. "Daddy said she was your wife. And when I said that you weren't married mother said that you still could be in love with her and could be planning on marrying her. And I felt angry because you didn't tell me." She then whispered.

Daniel laughed. "O no, she isn't any of the sort. And even if she wasn't my niece I wouldn't be in love with her."

"Why not? She's pretty." Regina asked as she curiously looked into his eyes now.

"Because I'm in love with another woman already, who's not just pretty but is beautiful."

Regina quickly turned her head away, trying to prevent new tears from falling at this news. "Oh." She said as her lips formed a thin line.

"You don't want to know who it is?" Daniel asked.

Regina shrugged. "Whatever, if you want to tell me you can. If you don't want to I won't force you." She said, trying to sound indifferent about the matter.

"She has beautiful raven brown hair." Daniel started. "The most intense chocolate brown eyes I've ever seen. She's really talented, she's good with horses and she can be really funny too. Sometimes she can be very stubborn but she has the most beautiful and radiant smile I've ever seen, and she's standing right in front of me at this very moment."

Regina's eyes widened. "Daniel.." She gasped, but couldn't say anything more, for Daniel softly captured her lips in his and her heart fluttered at their very first kiss. When they broke the kiss the first thing Regina did was punch Daniel's arm. "You're such a tease for leading me on like that!" She said, pretending to be mad at him, but her eyes betrayed her as they sparkled brighter than Daniel had ever seen.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Daniel said in a laugh. "It was just so incredibly amusing to see you so jealous. You're really bad at hiding your emotions, you know that?"

Regina huffed.

"Tell me, what can I do to make it up to you milady?" Daniel said as he bowed theatrically to her.

Regina smiled. "Hm..I don't know…you could….kiss me again?" She said with a twinkle in her eyes and she let out a short laugh of happiness as she felt his lips pressed against hers once again. She had never felt this way before, she felt so happy and free and….loved….

* * *

**A short chapter but as I already explained in my other two fanfictions I'm having some problems that prevent my from updating as often as I would want to. I hope you like this chapter anyway **** Please leave a review ****!**

**X**

**Metope**


	4. Chapter 4

**Four**

_6 months ago_

Every day it got dark a little sooner, winter really was coming, Henry thought as he walked towards the stables. He was on his way to get Regina for dinner, she had been at the stables the entire day. Cora was away for the weekend to an old friend. For Regina that meant she was free for two days to do as she pleased. Henry's face saddened a little as he thought about how the relationship between his wife and his daughter had worsened these past few years. It had all changed since that horrible night. Regina had gotten more rebellious and Cora used magic more and more, the combination was a very bad one. Cora wanted too much for Regina, Henry knew that, and that was why he had let her be these two days, it was a little vacation for her. However the moment Henry rounded the corner of the stables he wondered if he had let her a little too free. He didn't know what to do when he found his daughter standing in the middle of the stables being kissed by no one less than the stable boy. Clearing his throat would be the best approached he thought, and so he did.

Regina let out a gasp of shock when she heard the sound behind her and pulled away from Daniel immediately. "Daddy!" She gasped.

"Dinner is ready, dear." Was all Henry said as he left the stables again.

Regina looked confused at Daniel, eyes big with fear and shock. "Daniel, I – " She started but Daniel already understood, one of his many great traits.

"Go." He said while he slowly pushed her towards the exit of the stables. "You can let me know how it went tomorrow."

"If he will ever let me near you again." Regina sighed.

"Just go and talk to him." Daniel said and Regina nodded as she started to run to catch up with her father.

* * *

Henry smiled as he heard his daughter running after him, he slowed down his pace a little so she wouldn't be out of breath by the time she would have reached him.

"Daddy."Was all she said as she finally caught up with him.

"Hello dear. Did you have a nice day at the stables?" Henry was having a hard time holding back his laughter as he saw how his daughter's cheeks turned red at this question.

She nodded almost invisibly. "Daddy, about…just.." Regina started as she was at a loss for the right words to bring up the subject.

"It's okay dear." Henry said as he put an arm around his daughter. "Do you think you're in love with him?"

Regina nodded. "Yes daddy I think I am. He's so funny and so smart and intelligent, and he's handsome and sweet and thoughtful and.."

Henry laughed. "Okay dear, that's quite enough, I understand, if you'd continue like this you would almost make _me_ fall in love with him."

Regina laughed as she leaned her head against her father's shoulder while they continued to walk to the house.

"You won't tell mother?" She suddenly asked in a small voice.

Henry didn't respond right away. He didn't want to have secrets for Cora – although she had secrets for him without a doubt - but he knew that as soon as Cora would know about the two she would force Regina to end it, and he couldn't betray his daughter like that.

"I won't." He therefore said. "But she will have to know some day."

"I know." Regina sighed. "I want to tell her myself though."

"That's okay."

They continued their walk in silence for a while. "Regina?"

"Yes daddy?"

"You didn't lay with the man yet or did you?"

Regina's face turned red in an instant and she pulled away from her father's embrace. "Daddy!" She shrieked upset.

"Did you, Regina?" Henry asked her seriously.

Regina shook her - right now very tomato colored - head.

Henry nodded. "Okay." And he continued to walk; Regina now stayed a few steps behind him as she tried to calm down her breathing. She hadn't slept with Daniel indeed, not yet, her father didn't have to know she had _almost_ slept with him…

* * *

"He didn't lock you up in the highest tower I see." Daniel said as he let Regina into his house the following morning.

"Nope." She said with a smile as she quickly gave him a kiss. "He is okay with it." She said.

"Really?"

"Really. And he promised he wouldn't tell her."

"She will have to know one day, Regina." Daniel said as he slowly snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her to him.

"I know." Regina sighed as she leaned her head against his chest. "But I just want everything to be as it is for just a little longer.

"Is that why you are here so early this morning, it's practically still night." Daniel asked.

"Yes. Mother will come back around noon. I wanted to be just with you now we still can. Daddy is still asleep and won't awake for another two hours. He always wakes up at the same time."

"Well then I'd say make yourself comfortable here. Do you want some tea?" He said as he started to pull away from her, Regina however didn't let go of him.

"Don't go." She whispered.

"You don't want tea then?"

She shook her head. "No…" She took a deep breath. "No, all I want is _you_." She then whispered as she kissed him tenderly and he kissed her back in the same loving way. Their kiss quickly deepened and became more intense as Regina slowly walked backwards to his bed and he softly pressed her down to it. When Regina started to unbutton his shirt he stopped kissing her. "Regina?" He asked questioningly.

"Don't stop." She breathed. "I told you, I want you. Now…now my father knows nothing will be the same anymore. He said he wouldn't tell my mother but it won't be long before she will find out anyways, I can feel it. She'll ruin everything and…" Daniel captured her lips in another kiss, preventing her from talking, showing her he understood. "Make love to me, Daniel." She whispered as he broke the kiss.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked concerned.

The brunette nodded. "A hundred per cent." She said and to proof her point she kissed him again with all the love she had in her. She smiled when she felt Daniel respond and deepen the kiss while his hands started to open her corset.

* * *

They were both staring up at the ceiling, replaying in their minds the events from earlier that morning.

"I have to get back, my father will wake up soon." Regina said softly, she felt Daniel nod next to her.

"I love you Daniel." She whispered and she cursed herself as soon as she had said it, it was too soon, she thought, what if he didn't love her back the way she did, he – "

"I love you too Regina. "

"Really?" She asked, the excitement clearly audible in her voice as she turned her head to look at him.

"Really." Daniel said as he too turned to face her and pressed a soft kiss to her nose.

"Good." She said with a smile.

* * *

"Regina dear. How did you spend your days in my absence?" Cora said as she walked towards her daughter and immediately started to 'rearrange' the girl's hair so it would sit to her liking.

"It was just fine, mother." Regina said with a fake smile.

"Really? What did you do besides wasting all your time in those filthy stables then?"

"Uhm I – uh – spend some time with daddy…" Regina started as she averted her eyes.

"Look at me when you talk to me." Cora said coldly. "And spending time with your father is not what I meant. You really did spend two entire days in that stables? And your father let you of course."

"But mother, I – "

"Don't talk back to me. To make up for all those lessons you won't go out riding this afternoon."

"No! Mother! That's un_fair_!" Regina yelled at her mother, and she immediately clasped her hand to her mouth as she realized what she just had done and what the consequences would be, however, she wouldn't apologize, it was unfair and she wanted to see Daniel, she wouldn't give in this time.

Her mother shook her head and sighed theatrically as she shook her head. "O dear, I'm not even fully home yet and I have to punish you again."

"No mother please! Just listen, it is _unfair_. I'll do twice as much the rest of the week, please let me go to my riding lesson this afternoon! Mother!" Regina screamed a she got lifted up in the air and felt the dark magic flow through her body again. It made her feel sick. And had she been determined to not give in to her mother mere minutes ago, the horrible feeling of her mother's dark magic made her change her mind in mere seconds.

"Please mother. I'm sorry. I won't go out riding this afternoon I'll focus on my lessons." She whimpered.

"Good." Cora said and she lowered her daughter down again. "Now go up to your room." Cora didn't have to say that a second time.

* * *

"The King is traveling through our land." Henry remarked as he entered the living room where Cora had been sitting.

"Oh really? How come?"

"He is on his way to the winter palace but the road they normally take is impassable. One of our men just told me."

"So the princess is with him too then?" Cora asked suddenly all the more interested in the entire matter.

Henry nodded. "I suppose she is."

Well that created possibilities, Cora thought with an evil smirk on her face.

"Regina dear?" Cora knocked on the door of Regina's room and didn't wait for the girl to respond before she entered the room.

Regina was sitting at her desk perfecting her handwriting. "Yes mother?" She said softly and when she looked up Cora could see she had been crying.

"I think you have worked long enough on your lessons. You were right, I was too harsh on you. You can go out riding now if still want to."

Regina's face lit up at this news. "Thank you mother, thank you very much!"

* * *

"Daniel!" Regina called from her horse as she saw Daniel standing near the tree they often met.

Daniel's face lit up as he turned around and saw Regina riding towards him. "I thought you weren't allowed to go out riding today?" He said surprised as he helped her off the horse.

"I know. But she changed her mind. I think daddy must have spoken to her or something. It doesn't matter, I'm here now."

"How long can you stay?"

"About an hour I think, I have to be back then for tea time."

Daniel sighed. "This is ridiculous, stealing kiss between tea and lunch. You will have to tell her eventually Regina. Your father was okay with it, I'm sure that will help."

"No, Daniel. She- She doesn't understand! She will ruin everything!"

"Oh come on Regina. What can she do to us?"

"Have you not seen her magic? The real question is what _can't_ she do! Daniel I don't want to lose you, I _cannot_ lose you. I love you." She said as tears welled up in her eyes.

"I know that," He answered in a sigh regretting that he had upset her. "Don't cry, I love you too Regina. I'm sorry." Daniel soothed her. "We'll just – "

What they would just do got overwhelmed by a loud scream for help. Quickly Regina turned around pressing a hand against Daniel's mouth to prevent him from speaking, making sure that way they wouldn't be discovered. Seconds later the couple saw a wild horse running past them with a little girl in a pink coat on its back, she was desperately clinging on the reigns as she screamed out in fear. Regina didn't hesitate any longer and got on her horse to save the girl. The brunette caught up with the horse rather quickly and bent over to the girl. "Grab my hand!" She yelled.

The girl looked with eyes filled with fear at the stranger that now was riding next to her. "I'm afraid!" She yelled back, tears in her eyes.

"I won't let you fall. Just grab my hand. You have to!" Regina yelled back and the girl nodded as she quickly grasped Regina's hand. In one swift move Regina pulled her off the horse and lowered her down to the ground. After she'd dismounted her own horse she quickly walked over to the girl and helped her up.

"I will never get back on a horse again." The girl said gasping for air.

"Nonsense." Regina said with a reassuring smile. "The only way to overcome you fears is to get back on the horse again."

"You saved my life…"

"Regina."

"I'm Snow. Snow White."

"Well, nice to meet you Snow." Regina said with a smile. "Are you okay or did you hurt anything?"

Snow shook her head. "No, I'm fine I think. My horse, he suddenly got wild. I don't know how, there was nothing odd and the other horses didn't do anything either."

"With whom were you traveling Snow?" Regina asked as they slowly walked back to the tree where Daniel was waiting. "With my father and a few of his men."

Regina nodded. "You think they will find you here or do we have to send someone out to go look for them?"

"I think they will find me soon enough." Snow answered. "My father sent a few of the soldiers after me as soon as my horse ran away."

"Ok. That's good. I'll send our stable boy out to go find your horse and in the mean while you can come back home with me so we can give you some tea to calm you down. Would you like that?"

Snow nodded. "Yes, I would like that very much. Thank you Regina. Here, for your kindness."

"Ah thank you very much Snow." Regina said and her happiness was sincere as she took one of the small white flowers that had been in Snow's hair before from the girls hand. "You're a sweet girl Snow."

"It's not much but I don't have anything else to thank you with." The girl replied.

"That's okay. You don't have to thank me for saving your life. If I would have to I would do it again."

* * *

**And here you all go! Thank you all very very much for the reviews!**

**There was someone in the reviews who asked me if I was French and if he or she could review in French and I forgot to answer: I'm not French BUT I can read French fairly well for I study French (among other things) at my University at the moment, so yes you can reply in French. I would love for you to do that as a matter of fact because that way I can improve my understanding of the language too ****!**

**Please read and review for they encourage me to write ****!**

**X**

**Metope**


	5. Chapter 5

**Five**

"You can go mother, it's fine." Regina said in her most convincing voice. "The King and his men are here to look after me and Snow, so you and daddy can go without there being any trouble."

"Are you sure dear?" Cora asked with a concerned look, she and her husband were called away unexpectedly because one of the lords and a dear friend to her husband had suddenly died.

"Yes mother, I am sure. Besides, it will be a good opportunity to get to know the King better. I think that will be a good thing to do before the wedding." Regina knew she now had said the right words to convince Cora to leave as she saw a proud smile appear on the woman's face.

"I'm so proud of you dear." She said while she stroked Regina's hair. "You'll make a wonderful queen."

"Thank you mother." Regina said and she couldn't help but feel truly happy at receiving her mother's approval, even though she wasn't planning on marrying the King at all.

A few days ago Regina had thought everything was over when Snow caught her and Daniel kissing in the stables, the poor girl was heartbroken seeing her soon to be mother kissing someone else than her father. Luckily Regina and Snow had grown rather close in the days after the accident so when she had explained everything to Snow, the girl understood. She had told Snow how she didn't love the King, how it hadn't even been her to accept the King's proposal but her mother. How she had loved Daniel for a very long time now, that what she had with Daniel was true love. And Snow had understood it all, unfortunately that didn't mean the danger was gone for Snow had wanted to tell her father right away. But smart as Snow was the girl agreed with Regina that it was best to not tell her father yet, for her mother wouldn't approve and probably stand in the way. She promised to keep Regina's secret and she had, even though Cora had been everything but easy on the girl to try to find out what the secret was the girl and her daughter had shared.

Yesterday Snow had stormed in Regina's room tears in her eyes. "I almost told her Regina!" She cried as she wrapped her tiny arms around Regina's waist.

_"O Snow, it's okay, it's okay, but you didn't tell her did you? So there is no problem right?" Regina answered while she went down to her knees so her eyes were at Snow's level._

_The girl shook her head. "No, but I don't know how long I can keep this a secret for your mother Regina, and you will have to tell her sometime and my father too?"_

_"I know Snow and I will, I have a plan."_

_"You do? What is your plan then?" Snow said her light brown eyes wide with curiosity._

_"My mother and father have to leave tomorrow unexpectedly because a family friend has died. I'm planning on telling your father then. And after me and Daniel will go to the village to get married, so that when my parents get home there won't be anything my mother can do about it. You think it will work?"_

_Snow nodded. "Oh yes! My father will understand, and if you're married I think your mother can do nothing to keep you apart anymore!"_

So now Regina was trying her best to get Cora out of the house quickly as possible.

* * *

"Ah Regina, you wanted to talk to me." The Kings said while Regina straightened her back again after she had bowed to the King.

"Yes my King. I – " _damn it Regina_, she thought inwardly_ you're crying already?_.

"Oh dear what's wrong? Why are you crying?" The King asked as he set a step in her direction unsure what to do to comfort her.

Regina shook her head, it was probably best to just blurt the news out at once, she thought. "I can't marry you, my King." She whispered.

"I'm sorry?"

"I- I can't marry you." She now said while she looked up at the King's confused face with tears in her eyes. "I- I am in love with someone else, I already was before my mother accepted your proposal. She doesn't know, she would never approve. But it's true love, what we have is true _love_ and that's why, that's why I can't marry you! I am truly sorry and I know you wanted to marry me and to take care of Snow but I just can't, it wouldn't be fair to either one of you." A sob escaped her lips while she wrapped her arms around her waist to support herself while she waited for the King's response, terrified but when she finally dared to look up at the King again she didn't see an angry face but two eyes filled with compassion staring back at her.

"O dear Regina. It is okay. After all, I wouldn't want to stand in the way of true love, if you are sure that is what you have?"

Regina nodded. "I truly love him." She whispered.

"Then it is okay, I won't oblige you to do anything your heart is so opposed to. Snow will be disappointed though when we tell her."

"She – she already knows, your highness. She caught me and Daniel k – kissing in the stables." Regina felt her cheeks redden. "I explained everything to her, she was sad at first but eventually she understood. I asked her to keep the secret so I could tell you myself when...the time was right."

"Because Lady Cora won't be happy with your choice?" The King quickly understood.

Regina nodded. "I- I told Snow she could visit me whenever she wanted...if that is okay with you of course your highness."

The King smiled. "But of course. I'm still very grateful you saved my daughter's live and have taken such an interest in my daughter. If you want I would like to have you visit the palace to keep Snow company so now and then."

Regina smiled through her tears. "Thank you, your highness. You're too kind."

"Do you want me to talk to your mother?"

Regina shook her head. "O no your highness. You have done so much already, I – Daniel asked me to marry him so we were planning on getting married in my parents' absence. I know it isn't a noble thing to do, but I just don't see another way. I know my father approves, it's just my mother who is opposed to this all."

The King nodded. "I understand. I'll tell my men we will leave this afternoon so your wedding day will be free of negative thoughts."

Regina smiled happily at the King, he truly was a kind and fair man, to understand that even though she did care for the King she still felt uncomfortable in his presence. "Thank you your highness. I can't thank you enough for this."

"There is just one last thing I would like to ask you." The King now said.

"Of course, anything." Regina said.

"I would like to meet this Daniel. To see who the man is you choose above a life as a queen. I couldn't go without knowing if I'd leave you in good hands."

Regina nodded. "Of course your highness."

* * *

"So, are you _finally_ going to tell me what the King said to you when he asked to see you?" Regina asked Daniel. They were lying on their backs under the apple tree, their hands were intertwined while Regina studied the finger that now wore a small golden ring. Under the ring her skin was lighter now, the print that they were married was magically carved in her skin. An idea of Snow, she had asked a fairy to do so for her, that way, if her mother would find out they could prove the marriage really was legal.

"I guess I can do that now yes." Daniel said slowly with a big smile on his face. "First he asked me what I did, where I grew up and if I had any family. So I told him about Alice, about how my parents died a couple of years ago, about my work as a stable boy here. Then he asked me how I met you, so I told him about the night that I found you in that side-street and – "

"You _told_ him about that!?" Regina exclaimed. "Daniel! That is – _private_, I'm so embarrassed, you told the _king_!"

"Regina, Regina, calm down. I know that's not something you want anyone to know. But I thought that in this case I could tell, I had to tell, I had to be honest with the King. Exactly _because_ he is the King. Do you understand."

Regina nodded. "I guess...and after?"

"After that he told me why I thought I loved you and I explained to him why, that I think you're the most beautiful, intelligent, sweet, kind, caring woman I've ever met and that I would do anything in my power _and_ beyond to make you happy. And the King just smiled and he nodded and he gave me my blessing."

"Really?" Regina breathed as she turned her head to face Daniel while she felt the warm sun on her cheek.

"Really." Daniel said as he rolled on his side to kiss her, their kiss quickly deepened.

"I love you so much Daniel." Regina breathed in between kisses.

"I love you more, my beautiful Regina." and Regina laughed as he started to kiss her jaw line and started to trail kisses down her neck to her chest. He found her lips again and she moaned softly when she felt his hands starting to untie the straps that held together her corset. She kissed him back in a bruising kiss as her hands trailed through his hair and Regina thought life couldn't be better until:

"REGINA!" Regina felt her whole body grow cold as she heard the furious voice that called her name. Daniel quickly moved away from her and Regina quickly sat up adjusting her dress and she closed her eyes for a while, praying this wasn't happening. But when she felt herself being lifted from the floor and the dark magic flowing through her body she knew who was standing behind her; her parents were back, and her mother was furious...of course...

* * *

**cliffhangerrr! I'm terribly sorry this chapter isn't longer but I just don't have any more time to write, and because I did wanted to update (for I'll be incredibly busy the rest of the week) you'll have to do with this **

**Please read and review...the curse is coming and as I said both Daniel and Regina are going to be in Storybrooke..so what will their lives be like there? Note that Regina is 18 years old at this moment and Daniel about 20 ;).**

**x**

**Metope**


	6. Chapter 6

**Six**

_A few months ago_

Before Regina could even open her mouth to say something Cora had slammed Daniel against the apple tree with strong branches tying him against the trunk. "What on EARTH do you think you're doing?!" Cora ranted while Henry was standing a few steps behind her. He didn't approve of Cora's methods but he too was furious about his daughter's behaviour, so for now, he would let Cora continue. "You're marrying in the King in two weeks Regina, what do you think would happen if he would see you like this! He would get you killed right away! Not to mention you're rolling in the hay with a _stable_ _boy_?!"

"Are you done mother?" Regina asked coldly while she tried not to show the difficulty she was having breathing as the magical leather bands were wrapped painfully tight around her body.

"Don't push me Regina, you're not in the position to use that tone of voice to me." Cora hissed.

"Well maybe if you would actually listen to me I wouldn't have to use it at all. I'm not marrying the King. He isn't even here anymore." She said her chocolate brown eyes dark with anger.

"What?" Was all Cora could say.

"I said, the King isn't here anymore. Meaning he left. Meaning I won't marry him."

"And why is that dear? Because you think I will go with this and let you marry this stable boy? What did you say to the King to send him away? That you felt ill?"

Regina shook her head. "Not because I _think_ you're going to _let_ me marry Daniel, but because I am _already_ married to Daniel. I told the King I couldn't marry him because I'm in love with Daniel, he understood and he even gave Daniel his blessing."

"Nonsense." Cora hissed. "You're bluffing you just wear that ring to make me believe you got married so I will call of the wedding with the King." She added when she saw the small golden band on Regina's finger.

Regina shook her head. "Oh no mother, _I_ am speaking the _truth_. I can prove it, Snow gave us the blessing of a fairy as a wedding present, so our proof of true love and marriage is imprinted on our skin beneath the ring. You can take the ring off if you want to see for yourself."

Cora waved her hand and the ring slid off Regina's finger, her mother gasped when she saw indeed that Regina's skin was slightly lighter where a small band was visible on her skin. "You _insolent, ungrateful child_!" Cora screamed in frustration and Regina gasped as the ties around her suddenly tightened so much she could hardly breathe.

"Cora be careful, you're choking her." Henry warned Cora but his wife didn't listen.

"Everything I did for you to get you to the cusp of greatness and you throw it _all_ away in less than three days! Love is weakness Regina! Power is how you get things. You think the life with a stable boy will make you happy? That life is a far cry from the life as a queen!"

"Being Queen means nothing mother! And living with Daniel has _already_ made me happy. It made me happier than I've ever been!"

Cora sighed, it didn't seem as if she was getting anywhere with her daughter, time for a different approach. With a wave of her hand she lowered Regina and released Daniel from the tree. "So this…this is what makes you happy?" She asked Regina, trying to sound so genuine as possible and by the look on Regina's face she did.

"Yes mother, as I said, it already has." Regina said with a soft smile as she walked over to Daniel to see if he was okay. Cora winced slightly when Daniel put his arms around Regina as he stood behind her.

"Then who am I to stand in the way of that." Henry smiled at Cora's sudden change of heart. She finally listened to her daughter again.

"Thank you mother." Regina said happily and she walked over to Cora to hug her. Cora leaned her head against her daughter's and closed her eyes, this was probably the last time in a while Regina would hug her, considering what she was about to do would change everything.

When Regina let go of her Cora walked over to Daniel and took him a few steps away from Regina and Henry. "Daniel, " She started, "I want to give you some advice, you see, if you start a family together, you'll have to know that you always have to do what is in the best interest of your children."

The blue eyed stable boy smiled at her. "I understand." He said. "Because that is what you're doing now."

"Yes.." Cora whispered with a cold look in her eyes and with that she plunged her hand in his chest and grabbed the boy's heart. Daniel gasped in pain and Regina let out a terrified scream.

"Nooo! Mother don't do that!" She screamed but Cora didn't listen to either her daughter or Henry as she started to squeeze. Regina felt tears falling down her face and fear was paralyzing her as she tried to process what was happening, seeing Daniel lying on the ground groaning in pain. Her mother was killing Daniel. Her mother was killing Daniel by squeezing his heart. Her mother was killing Daniel by squeezing his heart painfully slow. Her mother _was_ killing Daniel, she hadn't killed him _yet, _she then realized.

Regina stamped her foot to the ground in frustration as she put her hands to her head to block out Daniel's cries so she could think of a way how to save him. "Mother STOP IT!" She screamed and suddenly Daniel's cries of pain stopped and all she could hear was a gasp leaving Cora's lips. When Regina dared to look up she saw that the hand Cora was holding Daniel's heart in was glowing a bright color of purple, not the kind of purple her mother's magic usually was though. Regina let out a gasp of fear and shock when she saw that her hands that had been still up to her head were glowing in the same purple color. She locked eyes with Cora and what she saw in her mother's eyes confirmed her suspicion: she was doing magic.

Okay, Regina thought to herself, there will be enough time to freak out over this later, or so I hope, I first have to use the advantage I now have because she's still in shock to get Daniel's heart back. Slowly and carefully Regina started to walk to her mother her left hand still up for she didn't dare to lower it afraid she would break the spell. With her right hand she carefully took the heart out of her mother's hand, her eyes never leaving those of Cora.

The latter was still too astonished to do or say anything, her daughter was controlling her through magic, her daughter who hadn't shown any signs of magic ever before, who had never used magic before, was able to block _her_, after Rumplestiltskin the most powerful sorceress in this land, and that confused Cora. On one hand she was extremely proud of Regina, on the other she was scared of her too, and all these emotions caused her to do nothing and to just stare at Regina while she walked up to her and took the heart from her hand. It was only after the feeling of the beating organ left her hand that she came to her senses again. She decided to just observe her daughter practicing magic for a little longer while she placed the heart back into Daniel's chest. As soon as it was done she broke the spell Regina had used on her and was ready to throw a spell at both of them to punish her daughter and kill Daniel after all only to find two strong hands grabbing her wrists. Cora winced a little when she looked into the dark and very angry eyes of her husband.

"Enough." The man hissed. "Enough, do you hear me! Don't you dare even _think_ of doing anything to either one of them."

Cora shook her head, nothing was going according to plan, she had to get out of here. And so she did, one moment Henry was holding his wife's wrists and was looking into two confused brown eyes and the next he was only engulfed in a cloud of dark smoke. The moment the smoke cleared he saw Cora had disappeared as well. Time to wonder where she had gone he didn't have as Henry only had eyes for his poor daughter. Regina was crying in Daniel's arms her body shaking heavily through the sobs. When Henry made eye contact with Daniel he was slightly shocked by the anger and the fear and the pain but above all the love that he could see in those blue eyes. He sent the stable boy a soft smile and decided to go home, he wasn't needed here, it was better to leave them alone for now.

* * *

"Well I hear your great scheme of things has been ruined by no one less than your own daughter and a stable boy?" Cora quickly turned around to watch the person that had dared to intrude her hiding place; her family mausoleum.

"Rumplestiltskin, to what do I owe this unpleasant surprise?"

"Oh nothing dearie, I just thought I would stop by as your _friend_. To ask you what you're planning on doing now?"

Cora huffed. "I'm not sure yet. There is no way I can make her queen now in this land."

"In _this_ land, no I don't think you can't make her queen in _this_ land anymore." The imp smiled.

"What do you mean by that?" Cora asked suddenly noticing the imp wasn't just teasing her anymore.

"Well I mean..if you would find a way to go to _another_ land you might have another chance again."

"And how would I do that?"

"Oh, well let's say I might have a curse for you that would do the job." The imp giggled

"Name your price." Cora growled as she set a step in the direction of the imp.

"No price this time dearie. Let's just say I'm invested in your future. As long as I'll have power and comfort in this new land I let you do whatever you want with it."

"Deal." Cora said without contemplating on the matter any longer, she was too angry to do so. "Now tell me, how do I get this curse to work?"

The imp smiled a devious smile to her.

* * *

_Present time right after Rumplestiltskin has told Cora what she has to offer in order for the curse to work_

With a devious smile Rumplestiltskin made his way to the Mill's house. He had distracted Cora long enough he thought. Such a foolish woman, to think that a curse as powerful as this one could be enacted by just simply by giving up her power and magic. She would find out soon enough that wouldn't be what it takes to enact the curse, she would have to offer the heart of what she loved most, Rumplestiltskin knew that wasn't her power, nor was it Regina, now only Cora had to find that out. And in the meantime he would have the time to make sure that the savior would be saved from the curse.

"You!" Was the first word he heard when he magically made himself appear in the Mill's living room and stared in the angry eyes of Cora's pathetic excuse for a husband.

"Well this is not what I would call a warm welcome." The imp teased.

"Daddy, what is wrong? Oh – " A young woman, the spitting image of Cora in her younger days entered the room, Regina, she stopped as soon as she saw the imp standing in the living room. "What- I mean, _who_ is this?" After Regina a young blue eyed man entered the living room, the stable boy.

"Rumplestiltskin at your service milady." The imp said while he made a theatrical bow to her.

"You're the man who has taught my mother how to use magic." Regina stated as her eyes darkened.

"Why are you here?" Henry asked.

"I came with news about your beloved wife, and to warn you." The imp said truthfully.

"Cora is planning on enacting a powerful curse that will curse us _all_ to a land without magic where time is frozen and we will have no recollection of our previous lives."

Regina gasped.

"How do we know what you say is true, if you have taught Cora how to use magic then how do we know you don't work with her?" Daniel asked.

"Oh that cooperation ended a very long time ago." The imp answered. "When she broke the deal that promised me _you_, to be exactly." And he pointed at Regina who said a step back in fear. A small smile graced her lips when she felt Daniel's hand on her shoulder.

"Can we prevent the curse from happening?" Regina now asked.

"No, the curse will happen, there is nothing we can do about that. However we _can_ make sure there will be someone saved from the curse who can break the curse."

"Who?" Henry asked.

The imp pointed to Regina again. "The child that will be born from their true love and that is currently growing inside her."

Regina shook her head. "I'm not pregnant…"

"Yes you are dearie. You know you are, don't deny it." The imp giggled.

"Is he speaking the truth Regina?" Daniel asked when he saw his wife's cheeks turn red.

"I didn't tell you because I wasn't sure yet." She whispered. "I wanted to be certain."

Daniel couldn't help but smile at his wife's confession and he softly squeezed her shoulder to let her know he was happy. A more explicit reaction didn't seem appropriate with the imp around, making them all feel extremely uncomfortable.

"And how is our child supposed to break this curse?" Regina asked.

"You'll have to leave this world before the curse starts." The imp explained. "A wardrobe will be made, a magical one, one that can transport _one_ person to the other land. The wardrobe will be finished before the curse will be cast, you will go through the wardrobe and on its eighteenth birthday the child will come to the place we all live in and break the curse."

Regina shook her head. "I'm not leaving…" She gasped. "I'm not leaving my father and Daniel behind. I can't – I can't go to a new world and raise a child all by _myseilf_!?"

"Well you'll have to dearie." The imp suddenly said aggressively. "If you don't we will all be stuck in a land without magic for eternity."

"But why does it have to be me? Why can't you send some brave prince or knight or something." Regina asked, panic slightly audible in her voice.

"Because they won't be as powerful as your child will be. Only your child will be able to defeat Cora. You're a very, _very_ powerful witch Regina, if only you would let yourself, but – I understand you're not interested in all of that at all." The imp remarked dryly at Regina's shaking head and disapproving look. "Anyways, the fact that you are so powerful and that your child is the product of true love will make it extremely powerful. It will be the only one strong enough to defeat Cora if you guide the child."

"I don't really have a choice do I?" Regina whispered.

The imp giggled. "No you don't."

"How long before Cora will enact the curse?" Henry now asked.

"I'd say we have about two more years before she'll have everything figured out."

"Two more years? Then why don't we just try to stop her if we have so much time to prepare ourselves?" Daniel asked. "And why can our child only defeat Cora on her eighteenth birthday? That means we will be cursed for eighteen years."

"We can't stop her because that would be acting against faith." Rumplestiltskin lied, they just couldn't stop her because he needed her to enact the curse, end of story. "Besides, it will take some time before the wardrobe will be finished. As for the age of the child, I'll be honest with you, the future is unclear, all I can see is the number eighteen and that it's referring to an age. Since there is no one eighteen at the time the curse will be enacted it has to refer to the child's age."

Daniel nodded. "And why did you come to tell us all of this now? So my wife can panic for two years about what is going to happen and what she will have to do?"

"Well, she will have enough time to mentally prepare herself?" The imp giggled. "But the real reason I'm telling you all of this is because, as I said only _one_ can go through the wardrobe and the one the savior _is_ going to be, is _this_ child. That means I'll have to 'put your pregnancy on hold' so to speak, so the baby won't be born before we can send you through the wardrobe."

"No I forbid it, Henry now said. That sounds too dangerous; one must not meddle in the creation of life and death."

"Well have it your way then." The imp said angrily. "Just send your two year old granddaughter or grandson through the wardrobe when the time comes, _alone_. That will be a much safer situation for the child to be in."

"And what if we do nothing? Maybe it won't be so bad to be cursed?" Regina asked. "At least we will be together as a family."

"You don't know that, dearie. Cora can create new alternate lives for us there, it's not at all a given fact that you will be together as a little family in this new land."

Regina slowly nodded. "Okay. Then do it." She said.

"Regina no. I don't trust this man, what if he hurts you what if he hurts our child?" Daniel said.

Regina now turned to face Daniel and she gently caressed his cheek with her hand. "Daniel, I'm just as afraid of all of this as you are, but if what Rumplestiltskin is true, if my mother really is preparing a curse that will curse us all…then I want our child to have her best chance. And that's not with us being cursed for eternity. So if that means I'll have to leave you and raise the child alone that's something I have to do. And don't think it doesn't hurt me and if there was any other way to prevent all of this from happening I would do it, but there isn't. So we have to do this, and not just for us, but for everyone. She won't just curse _us_ Daniel, she will curse the entire land!"

Daniel sighed. "I understand, I don't like it, but I understand. It's the right thing to do."

"Yes…" Regina whispered with tears in her eyes. "It is." And she now turned back to face Rumplestiltskin. "Before you do what you have to do…Nothing you do comes without a price. You're helping us and you've helped us so much already by telling us all of this. What do you want in return?"

The imp let out one of his infamous giggles and quickly walked over to Regina placing one hand on her still flat belly. "Nothing dearie, let's just say that I'm…_invested_ in your future." His hand started to radiate red magic and Regina let out a soft gasp when she felt a sudden wave of cold running through her body.

"Rumplestiltskin what are you doing. If you hurt my daughter." Henry now said angry while he looked with worried eyes at his daughter.

"Calm down, calm down." The imp said while he set a step away from Regina again. "The job is done and your dear daughter is still alive, breathing and healthy as you can see. I merely 'froze' the child in the state it is right now."

"And this enchantment will hold long enough?" Regina asked.

"Yes of course dearie, I'm insulted you're doubting my abilities. I am the only one who can lift the enchantment…And if I won't be able to lift the enchantment before you get through the wardrobe the enchantment will automatically be lifted once you get to the uncursed part of the new land."

Regina nodded.

"Well dearies, it was a pleasure talking to you all but I have other things to do. I'll come and get you when the time is right." The imp giggled and before any of the three adults could react the man had disappeared again.

Regina fell down on her knees with a gasp of fear and frustration. "Why is she doing this to us?" She asked her father, tears in her eyes. "What has happened to her that made her change so badly? She wasn't _like_ this when I was younger?"

"Magic is a powerful thing, darling. All magic comes with a prize. Cora's heart is taken over by dark magic, she doesn't fully control her actions anymore." Henry said.

Regina let out a sob. "I hate this. I thought everything was over now. And now I'm pregnant and I can't even be truly happy about it." She leaned in to Daniel who had his arms wrapped around her.

"Just one step at a time, Regina, just one step at a time. Rumplestiltskin said it will take about two years before Cora will enact the curse, meaning we have two months to be happy and fantasize about our child." He said as he kissed her temple softly.

Regina smiled. "Our child…" She whispered. "…born from our true love…"

* * *

However, Cora wasn't as foolish and impulsive as Rumplestiltskin had thought she was. When she was alone in her hiding place again after her little conversation with the imp she started to think. Giving up magic in order to cast the curse, it sounded like a rather low price to pay, especially when you took in consideration the fact that she would curse them all to a land without magic in the first place. You have to offer the one thing you love most, he had said. The moment he had said it she had thought about Regina, she had brought up her magic just to see if the imp thought that would work too. When she thought back about it he hadn't really confirmed nor denied if that would work, he had only agreed that it wasn't Regina. So if it wasn't her daughter and it wasn't her magic then what was it?

_Love_, Cora thought bitterly, love was weakness, she hadn't truly loved anyone since… And then it hit her, she knew who had her heart, who still had her heart after all these years, and the love she felt would always be unrequited…so if she had to offer him in order to find her happiness and bring her daughter the power she deserved, she would.

* * *

"Regina! Daniel! I'm so happy you're here!" Snow exclaimed happily when she descended the big palace stairs followed by Johanna and saw Regina and Daniel standing in the entrance hall.

"Snow!" Regina said happily while she walked over to the young girl. "You've grown so much! I can't believe you're turning thirteen today, look at you all grown up, it feels like yesterday that I had to save that twelve year old scared girl from that horse." She teased when she pulled Snow in for a hug.

Snow smiled. "Well luckily it wasn't yesterday but six months ago. As for my birthday, well, father insists on continuing to celebrate my birthday, even though I don't want to."

"Oh Snow," Regina sighed while she caressed Snow's hair and brushed it a little from her face. " I'm sorry, I can only imagine how two sided this day must be for you."

Snow smiled a sad smile. "Well, it is what it is I suppose. I'm just glad that you two are here now. I try just not to think about this day as my birthday but as just another day with another ball."

Regina smiled. "If that helps you, you should Snow. But know that, although I never knew your mother, I'm sure she would have been so proud of you and would have wanted nothing more than seeing you enjoy your birthday and the ball that's given in celebration of your birthday."

Snow nodded. "I know, and I really try to do so. O I can't wait for you to see the ball gown they made for me for tonight, it's truly wonderful. O but first, Daniel – "Snow now set a few steps in Daniel's direction and took his hand. "You have to come with me to the stables, I've learned a few new tricks." The girl beamed.

"Allright, allright." The man laughed. "I'll go with you, but first, do you think we could speak to your father? It's rather urgent."

"Well, he's always busy." Snow started. "But he promised he wouldn't do anything of work or business or anything of the sorts because it's my birthday today. So I'm sure he'll have time for you. Johanna can bring you to him, so I can change in my riding clothes in the meanwhile?"

"Sounds perfect." Daniel nodded.

* * *

Regina gasped when she entered her and Daniel's bedroom for the night. They had been given a room in the right wing of the palace and it was just beautiful. What astounded her even more, though, was the beautiful light blue ball gown that was laid out on the bed next to a costume that would make Daniel look incredibly handsome most certainly. On the clothes was a small piece of paper, quickly Regina picked up and read what it said.

"_Dear Daniel and Regina, _

_Please accept this small gift from me to you as a way to thank you both for coming to this ball today. It means a lot to Snow. I also wanted to thank both of you for confiding in me the news about your mother and the Dark One. I will do everything in my power to help you._

_The King.´_

"A note from the King I assume?" Daniel asked while he came to stand next to Regina.

"Yes" She nodded. "He thanks us for being here and for telling him about Cora and the curse. He says he will help us." She leaned in to Daniel with a small smile on her face.

They had told Leopold about everything that had happened after Cora had found out about her and Daniel – leaving out the _way_ she had found out. The King agreed with Regina and Daniel that they had made the right choice to let Rumplestiltskin help them. Although you never knew with the imp and it was better _not_ to make a deal with the man, in this case there didn't really seem to be another choice. Leopold promised however that he would use all his powers to try to find Cora and prevent her from enacting the curse. It gave Daniel and Regina a small spark of hope that maybe it wouldn't be necessary for Regina to leave.

* * *

Lady Goodriche was observing the guests on the young princess' birthday. They were all dancing in their well-dressed clothing, the women in the most beautiful ball gowns and the man in coats of expensive fabric. Lady Goodriche herself wasn't dancing, as said, she was just observing, her attention was in particular fixed on the young woman with the raven black hair and the dark chocolate brown eyes in the beautiful light blue ball gown. She was dancing with her husband, a young handsome man in a good looking coat that matched the colors of his partner's ball gown. They were laughing and talking. They were obviously trusted by the King, as the man had danced one dance with the princess and the young woman had had the privilege to dance a dance with the King, they had laughed and talked. With other ladies the King hadn't danced, not yet, that was, for lady Goodriche was determined to dance with the King tonight. To get to know the King better…to maybe even make the King fall in love with her if she played her cards right, and so she made her way to the King who was now sitting on his throne looking absentmindedly to his dancing guests.

* * *

_One year later_

"The King died." Regina said shocked as she held up the letter she had been just reading and looked to her father and Daniel.

"What? How is that possible? Are you sure?" Daniel asked just as shocked.

Regina nodded. "This is a letter from Snow. She wrote he has been poisoned by a former genie. They said the genie wanted to become king himself…"

"That's not entirely true, dearie." Regina jumped at the familiar yet frightening voice of the Dark One she suddenly heard behind her.

"Rumplestiltskin, you scared me. What do you mean? Why are you here?"

"I'm here because there's been a dramatic change of plans." The imp said seriously. "And it has everything to do with the death of the King. You see, the genie did indeed kill the King but not out of jealousy, not out of jealousy for his _position_ that is. You have probably heard about the King's sudden interest in a certain Lady Goodriche?"

Regina nodded. "Yes, I thought they would soon announce they would get married. Snow wasn't too fond of her though, which is ironic and odd, because the King wanted nothing but a mother to _Snow_."

"Exactly dearie, you're smart." The imp said happily. "It was this lady Goodriche who is responsible for the King's death. She manipulated the genie into believing that the King was holding her hostage in the palace and that the only way out for her was to kill herself. The genie, who had fallen in love with her of course wouldn't let that happen, so he suggested to kill the King instead. The lady agreed and so the King was killed."

"That's horrible." Regina gasped. "But why? Why would the woman want that? What does she gain by this? Her actions have only resulted in the problem that a regent has to be found and that poor Snow is now an orphan and will have to start rule the country when she'll only be eighteen years old."

"That has everything to do with lady Goodriche's true identity." The imp now said. "You see, your dear mother has always loved to dress up like other people. She mastered the art of transformation in no time…"

"_Cora_ was lady Goodriche?" Henry asked.

"Oh yes indeed she was. She didn't kill the king for its power though, as you said dearie, she has gained nothing by killing him if that was her goal. No she needed to kill him because she needed his heart."

Regina gasped. "Why is that?" Daniel now asked.

"I underestimated Cora. She's smarter than I expected. I had pointed her into the wrong direction into finding what she needed to enact the curse, it would buy us more time. One of its requirements is that you have to offer the heart of that what you love the most…."

"The king?" Regina asked confused.

The imp giggled. "It's a long and complicated story, dearie. Too long to explain to you now, but yes, the King is who she loved most. Not you, not her power, not her magic and not your father but the King, the only one who never acknowledged her."

"But why would Cora come to _you_ to ask about the curse?" Henry now asked.

"Simply, I created the curse." The imp giggled.

Regina gasped. "You tricked us! Why would you do such a thing! You created the curse and now you're helping us to break it!"

"Why I do what I do is my business, dearie. What is important now is that we anticipate to this new situation."

Daniel shook his head, it was no use to argue with the imp. "So what does it mean that she now has the heart?"

"It means that the curse will come sooner than expected. It will come tonight to be precise."

Regina gasped. "But I- I can't go now." She said, panic in her voice. "I haven't prepared for it to happen this fast, I – "

"Dearie, dearie, dearie. Calm down and let me finish talking." The imp said slightly annoyed. "I came here to tell you that you won't have to go. Plans have changed."

"I don't understand." Henry now said. "You said my grandchild has to be saved from the curse for it's the only one who can save us, then why does she suddenly not have to go anymore?"

"She doesn't have to go anymore simply because she can't, the wardrobe isn't finished yet. A very unpleasant fact, but a fact nonetheless." The imp said. "You will all be cursed, meaning my enchantment on your child will be broken _but_ because time in this new land will be stopped for us, nothing in your situation will change. However, the child is still the savior, we'll just have to be more creative to get it to save us all."

"And how are you planning on doing that?" Daniel asked.

"The young princess will be our answer. The poor, sad, heartbroken, orphan princess." The imp said with a devious smile.

Regina shook her head. "No. You leave Snow out of this. The girl has been through enough already. I don't know what you're planning on doing, but leave her out of it."

"I'm sorry, but it's not really your place to tell me what I can and cannot do dearie." The imp said in a menacing voice.

"Keep talking like that to my wife and the next thing you know you'll have one hand instead of two." Daniel said in the same menacing tone to the imp, who just sent him an unimpressed smile.

"The young princess will be saved from the curse and it will be she who will play a key role in breaking the curse. More you won't have to know. I merely came by to warn you that the curse will come tonight." The imp said with a devious smile and then disappeared in a dark cloud of smoke.

"No!" Regina yelled in frustration. "He cannot do this, we have to get to Snow, we have to make sure she is okay!"

Daniel now put his hands on both Regina's arms and held her firmly. "Regina calm down. There is absolutely _nothing_ we can do right now. Rumplestiltskin said the curse will come tonight, it's a two days travel to the King's palace by horse, we'll never make it in time."

Regina now leaned in to Daniel and buried her face in his shirt. "I hate my mother." She sobbed.

* * *

**Is this a long chapter or WHAT, more than 6.000 words! The next chapter will reveal Gold's plan for Snow and how she is part of breaking the curse **** Please read and review and tell me how you picture Daniel and Regina's life in Storybrooke!**

**X**

**Metope**


	7. Chapter 7

**Seven**

He had interpreted the signs in a wrong way. It wouldn't be Regina's daughter who would break the curse at her eighteenth birthday. The number eighteen applied to another crucial player in this game. Snow White. The key to breaking the curse was that Snow would get away in time. It would be she who would go to this new town at her eighteenth birthday, she would start the chain that would lead to the curse breaking. It would be she _together_ with the child who would break the curse. How could he not have seen it sooner, the imp wondered. Rumplestiltskin got snapped out of his thoughts by a man who was suddenly standing in front of him.

"You needed me?" The man asked as he bowed to the imp in a theatrical way.

"Jefferson. Yes. I need you indeed." The man gasped when Rumplestiltskin suddenly grabbed his neck and pushed him against the wall with force. "You have to listen very carefully to what I'm going to tell you now, and do everything _exactly_ as I say, understand?"

Jefferson nodded for as much as the imp let him.

"Good." The Dark One said as he let go of the hatter. "There is a curse coming, _tonight_. An evil witch named Cora will cast it. It will send us all to another land, a land without magic, were none of us will have a happy ending. In order for this curse to break, because preventing it from happening is impossible, I need _you_."

"Me? And why is that?"

"You need to bring the key to the curse to safety. The young princess who is now an orphan. Snow White. You need to bring her with your hat to Neverland. From there you can go to the world we will be sent to too. Raise her as if she was your own daughter while you prepare her for her task. On her eighteenth birthday you have to send her to us so she can fulfil the task faith has chosen to give her."

Jefferson sighed. "And _why_ would I do all of that?"

"Didn't you listen?" The imp asked in an angry voice. "This curse will bring _all_ of us to this world without magic were there will be _no_ happy endings. For _no_ one, not for me, not for Snow, not for you and not for your _daughter_. Do you really want to be responsible for your daughter's unhappiness?"

Jefferson sighed when he thought about his daughter Grace, she was eleven years old now and all he had. Of course he wouldn't want her to live an unhappy life. "How can I know you're telling the truth?" The hatter asked, however before the imp could answer the ground started to shake heavily and through the windows from the Dark One's castle they saw a big dark black cloud of smoke coming their way.

"Does that give you an answer?" The imp said with a sadistic smile. "Now go before it's too late, I'll send you to the castle at once, take the girl with you and do as I said."

"Why Neverland?" Jefferson asked.

"Because that's the only land with magic, meaning you can go there, that has a permanent connection with the world we will be brought to." The imp said as he started the teleportation spell around Jefferson.

"No wait!" The hatter called. "How will I know where to send her?"

"Faith will show you, dearie!" The imp laughed at him before the hatter got engulfed by dark smoke and the next thing he knew he was standing in a little girl's bedchamber.

"Papa? What happened where are we?" He heard a children's voice next to him and when he looked to where the sound came from he saw his little Grace standing next to him in her night gown. He smiled, Rumplestiltskin had kept his promise. When he took in his surroundings he saw a girl with hair as black as ebony, lips red as blood and a skin as white as snow sleeping in a big bed, the princess. The ground trembled again and the princess started to stir in her sleep, determined Jefferson grabbed the hand of his daughter as he put his hat on the ground.

"I'll explain everything later to you sweetheart. First we have to get ourselves to safety." He explained to his daughter as he walked over to the bed and woke the princess up. A shriek escaped the girl's lips when she saw the head of a strange man hovering above her.

"Don't be afraid." Jefferson quickly said. "I'm Jefferson, this is my daughter Grace. We're here to rescue you."

"Rescue me, from what?" Snow asked as she shook her head trying to wake herself up. "Where is Johanna? What's going on?" But before Jefferson could answer the castle shook again heavily and through Snow's window they saw the dark cloud approaching the castle.

"There's no time to explain everything here, we have to get out of her now." Jefferson said and when the princess didn't move he took her in his arms and together with Grace he walked over to the hat where he put her down again. Grace, seeing the princess was beyond scared kindly took the princess's hand. "Don't worry." She whispered. "My papa will save us. He isn't bad."

Snow nodded slightly while she watched in awe how the strange man turned the hat that was on the ground twice and a purple tornado came out of it. Jefferson walked back to the two girls and took both of their hands. "On three we jump, okay?" He asked and he started counting when both girls nodded in agreement. On three they jumped and the purple smoke engulfed them, just in time, so they wouldn't know that as they jumped the smoke reached the castle and broke the windows, scattering the glass in its rage.

* * *

"Regina! What took you so long?"

"I'm sorry mother, I lost track of time. I was in the library reading. I'm sorry." The girl apologized again. "It won't happen again."

"What were you reading? Those fairytales again?" The blush that appeared on her daughter's face told mayor Mills she was right about this. "How many times do I have to tell you I don't want you to read that nonsense? I think I'll just have to forbid you from going to the library again."

"No mother, I'm sorry. I just – I like them so much, please let me go to the library? I'll read books you approve from now on. I promise." The girl pleaded.

Cora pursed her lips. "We will see." Was all she said. "Now go to study that new piano piece your teacher gave you."

"Yes mother, thank you." The girl said obediently and she quickly walked away.

Cora sighed. It had been five years since the beginning in the curse. Was Cora happy she had her daughter back again? Yes. Was Cora happy about the way things had gone? No. She had been shocked when she had found out there weren't powerful kings and queens in this new land, some countries had them, but it wasn't the same. She had been shocked even more that it was not done to marry your daughter off at the age of eighteen in this land. Nineteen year old girls were supposed to be in school! At first Cora hadn't seen the use to that, but soon she found out it was because women were seen as fully equal to men in this land. Meaning that women too could occupy an important and powerful post, and that was something Cora liked.

She had had twenty four hours after she had brought them all to the new land to give everyone a new background. She herself would become the mayor of the town, Cora understood within the scope of the course that would give her the most power and influence in time. She would be married to her pathetic excuse of a husband Henry once again, he would be a district attorney. Regina would be their obedient and _unmarried_ daughter once again, as for the stable boy, he would just stay a stable boy and in order for Regina to never meet him she had implanted an made up traumatic experience with horses in her daughter's had worked, in the past five years Regina never went to the stables.

Rumplestiltskin was Mr. Gold in this land, he owned a pawnshop _and_ the town, it was a gift to the imp for giving her the curse, although he would never know of course. As for the rest of the people she had brought, King George, Albert Spencer in this land, was the sheriff in this town, and the woman she believed to be a sister to the stable boy was a teacher at the local Storybrooke high school.

Everyone in Storybrooke went to this school, the daughter of princess Briar Rose, Aurora, the two sons of Albert Spencer, James and David, Belle, Lord Maurice's daughter and also Malina, the former powerful dark fairy Malificent who never aged. Her mother had died at a young age and Rumplestiltskin himself had taken it upon him to teach her. She had been around for as long as Cora could remember and she had always been terribly annoying. No wonder Malina was a rebellious teenager in this land, one of the many _many_ reason Cora had decided to home school Regina. This way she would have as little contact with bad influences as possible.

However life had gotten boring, especially this last year Cora had had a difficult time to keep herself busy. She was the only one who knew about the curse. The first three years therefore had been about getting to know this new world, where all the other citizens had memories about this world implanted in their minds she hadn't. But now, she knew about everything there was to know about this world, and since the curse prevented time to go by and she couldn't leave, she now was bored to _death_. The fact that Regina now lived with her again didn't mean their relationship had improved. Or, not that wasn't fair to say, their relationship had changed, and in a way it was better, but Regina still was much closer with her father and just as stubborn as she had been back in their land. However instead of horse riding like a man and running off with a stable boy, Regina now had chosen fairytales to be her object of rebellion.

It were ridiculous untrue stories about their land. She was in one of them too, or at least so she thought, for she had never poisoned Snow White with an apple...She should have, that way at least she would have known why the girl hadn't come with the curse to this land. Cora had been looking for the child for over a year – it wasn't as if she had anything else to do – but eventually had accepted the girl somehow wasn't in Storybrooke. How, Cora didn't know, but she actually didn't really care, the girl would only remind her of that spoiled brat of an Eva and...and of Leopold...

Before Cora had time to dwell on the memory of the man she had loved she got snapped out of her thoughts by the beautiful sounds of her daughter's piano playing. That was one of the good things about this world, this piano, they hadn't had that instrument back home, but Cora liked it, as soon as she had learned about the thing she had made sure Regina would learn to play the instrument. It was considered as a virtue to be able to play such an instrument in this land, so it was only proper for Regina to learn it, Cora thought.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, twice, five years and Cora still wasn't used to the fact that one expected to open the door oneself in this land. With a sigh she walked over to the door and opened it, the only thing she could do when she saw who was standing in front of her was gasp, for in front of her was standing a beautiful young girl, about Regina's age with hair black as ebony in a pixie haircut, lips red as blood and a skin pale...pale as snow...

* * *

**I'm terribly sorry to let you all wait so long for an about, there were a couple of reasons for this:**

**- my Bachelor thesis is eating away all my time**

**- I have to finish a couple of OUAT drawings for a friends' birthday that are very time consuming**

**- AND I totally lost my inspiration after Sunday's episode, I cried my heart out and I was depressed the entire Monday after xD.**

**Please read and review!**

**x**

**Metope**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Snow had to suppress a small gasp when the big white door of 108 Mifflin Street opened and Snow saw that it was indeed Cora who answered the door, just like Jefferson had told her. She had seen some people on her way over here, but hadn't recognized many; she had lived a rather protected life inside the castle walls in the other land. Cora was the first person to prove that everything Jefferson had told her over the past five years about the curse, and the saviour and Rumplestiltskin, that everything was true.

"Hello, are you Mayor Mills?" Snow started before Cora could say anything, she saw the older woman stare at her, she knew Cora recognized her but wasn't sure if she was right. Snow had decided with Jefferson and Grace that they would act like they didn't know anything about their past lives anymore. It would be up to Cora to decide whether she thought they had forgotten, or that she thought they really were from this world, it didn't really matter. As long as Cora didn't know Snow knew about the curse everything would be fine.

"I am Mary. Mary Margaret Blanchard. I just arrived here with my father and little sister Grace. My father bought a house here and he asked me to stop by to let you know we have arrived and to ask how he can enrol me and Grace for school." Snow continued when Cora was still too much in shock to reply. At these words however she recovered.

"Well miss Blanchard. I am indeed the mayor of this town. Welcome, I am Cora Mills. Why don't you come in so we can talk about this?" And the woman opened the door a little more to let the girl in.

"Thank you Mrs. Mills, that's very kind of you." Snow said politely. When she entered the house she heard the sound of someone playing piano coming from one of the rooms. "O someone is playing the piano beautifully." Snow remarked with an innocent smile, she hoped it to be Regina, so she could see how she was.

Cora smiled as an idea popped up in her head. "Yes, that is my daughter practicing." She replied. "I'll go get her so you two can meet, you are about the same age I would say. The living room is that way, please sit down I'll send Regina to you and come after I have made us some tea." If this Mary would appear to recognize Regina, Cora thought, she would know if this girl actually was Snow or not.

And so Cora hid behind the door of the living room to watch Mary and her daughter interact after she had sent Regina to her. To her great disappointment Snow White was either very good in acting or this girl really didn't know Regina, for there was no way for Cora to tell if the girl had seen her daughter before.  
"Hello.." Regina said softly and in a slightly indifferent voice when she entered the living room and saw a girl with dark hair sitting on the couch.

Snow was slightly taken aback by the sight of Regina. This Regina had a look of indifference over her. Like nothing could excite her, like she cared about nothing. She wore an entirely buttoned up white blouse that was tugged in a dark black pencil skirt that was cut off on her knees. Her long black hair was up in an elegant bun and she wore a little bit of mascara, nothing more. She looked like she was going to live with the nuns one day, Snow thought. She looked nothing like a nineteen year old girl, nor like the spirited happy girl Snow had gotten to know years ago. This was most definitely Cora's doing. She could see Regina wasn't happy, the curse really had taken everyone's happy endings from them. However, Snow made sure she didn't show any of these observations, she had noticed Cora standing behind the door watching them.

"Hi." Snow said happily back instead. "I am Mary Margaret. Nice to meet you. I heard you play, you can play wonderfully." And she held her hand out for Regina to shake it.

Regina returned the gesture with a soft smile as she went to sit down in front of Snow in a chair. "Thank you." She said softly. "So I heard from my mother that you came to live here?"

Snow nodded. "Yup." She said. "So tell me, is it any fun here?"

Regina shrugged.

"You don't know?"

"No, I – I don't really go out often. My mother has me home schooled, and I have my piano lessons and other lessons I have to follow so there isn't really time to do anything else."

"O." Was all Snow could say, my god, she thought, Regina must have a miserable life here. "Isn't that very boring?" She asked then.

Regina shrugged again. "I don't know. My mother says this is for my own good. So I guess she is right. I do go to the library sometimes." She then added, and for the first time since she talked to her, Snow saw a faint hint of the sparkle of excitement that had always been in Regina's eyes.

"The library? What's so cool about that?"

Regina's face turned red in an instant. "I- I like to read, uhm, fairy tales and ancient myths and stuff like that." She said. "But my mother doesn't want me too, she told me I couldn't go to the library anymore if I didn't stop reading them. So I guess that's over now."

In the short time Snow had talked to Regina she was thoroughly annoyed by this girl, talking about her mother this, and her mother that. This Regina needed to loosen up a little. Just then Snow noticed Cora leaving, probably to really go make tea now. Time for a change of subject, Snow thought.

"But you don't have friends, or maybe a boyfriend?"

Regina blushed again and shook her head. "The people here of my age, they don't really like me, or so I think. Because I am the mayor's daughter and all, and I get all these privileges I didn't even ask for, but whatever. And no boyfriend either…" Her voice trailed off at this. "But enough about me." She then said. "Tell me, what is it you like? I may not know what I like to do here, but I do know what you _can_ do in general.."

"Well.." Snow started. "I love horseback riding, are there stables around here by any chance?"

Regina nodded. "Yes I believe there are, indeed. You should ask Malina, - she works at the diner – to take you there. She loves horses." Regina said.

"Why don't you take me there?" Snow asked, the whole purpose of talking about horses was that Regina would go there, Snow herself was still not too fond of the animals.

"I uhm, I don't like horses. I fell off once when I was little, and now I'm terribly afraid of them." Regina answered.

"O but then you should come all the more!" Snow exclaimed. "The only way to overcome your fears is to face them." Snow couldn't help but smile a little at the irony of these words, for it had been Regina herself who taught her this.

"I don't know…we will see." Regina said and she was happy her mother entered the living room just then with tea for the three of them.

* * *

The following morning Regina woke up with a sound she couldn't really place. It was a low sound, a sort of bell, like..from a clock. She got up out of bed and looked out of her window to gasp in surprise when she saw that the big clock on the clock tower suddenly had started to work again. Seconds later both Cora and Henry entered her room to see where the sound was coming from, Regina's room was the only room from where you could see the tower.

"Well would you look at that." She heard her father say. "Seems like the old clockwork suddenly remembered how to work again."

"It's impossible.." Was all that Cora could whisper.

* * *

Mr. Gold was up for a few hours already when he too heard the low but loud sound of the storybrooke town clock, and when the first bang reached his ears he suddenly remembered everything again. He couldn't help but smile as it all came back to him. Snow White, Cora, the curse, Regina and the small life inside her, Daniel, him being the Dark One, the Enchanted Forest, it was all there again. Things were about to change radically, and the final battle would begin…

Only moments later Cora entered his shop, the look on her face betraying her anger. Mister Gold, explain to me how that clock can suddenly produce such a horrible sound again.

"Mayor Mills. Good morning to you too and, how should I know. I'm no engineer, I'm just a pawn broker. But if you would really want my unprofessional advice, I would say that something must have changed overnight, something that has triggered _time_ to pass again. Well in matter of speaking of course." The man winked, he let Cora eye him for a while before he turned around again. "If that's everything I have to excuse myself, but I have work to do." He said.

Cora growled something incoherent that probably was a goodbye and left the shop again.

* * *

Regina was in the middle of one of her piano lessons when the doorbell rang. Both her parents were out, so she quickly excused herself and walked to the door. "Mary Margaret..Malina…hi." She said with an insecure smile when she saw the two girls standing on her porch.

"Hey Regina. I was wondering, I am going with Malina to the stables now. She loves horses indeed, like you said. And I was wondering if you wanted to go with us? Now I know that you're scared of horses.." Snow continued before Regina could say anything. "…you told me that yesterday, but like I said, the only way to overcome your fears is to face them. So I say, come with us. It's not normal for a nineteen year old to have no friends and to spend all of her time at home or at the library. Go upstairs, change into something more casual then this pencil skirt and come with us. We'll wait in the hall." And without waiting for Regina to respond Snow let herself in, dragging Malina with her. The latter sent Regina an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry Reggie, but this new girl doesn't seem to accept no for an answer."

"Reggie?" Both Snow and Regina asked.

Malina shrugged. "It sounds less formal and serious than Regina. Regina sounds as if you're going to become a queen one day, it sounds so...formal. I like Reggie better, deal with it."

Regina gave a wide eyed nod, not daring to argue with the Goth with the bad reputation in front of her. "It's really nice of you to ask me to come with you." She recovered. "But I am in the middle of a piano lesson, I'm afraid my mother – ".

"O please Regina." Snow now said a little annoyed. "In the past, 20-something hours that I know you, I've heard you talking about your mother way too often. You're nineteen, you can think for yourself. Skipping your piano lessons for one day won't hurt anyone. Come on, loosen up a little!"

Regina just stood still in the hall contemplating what she was going to do when a small smile grace her face. "Okay then." She said. "Why not. I'll just tell my teacher to go home, change and then we can go."

"Great." Snow cheered.

"Wow, are you a bad ass." Malina said teasingly, but the smile on her face showed that she didn't say it to hurt Regina.

* * *

"So, why did I agree to come with you two again?" Regina asked, fear clearly audible in her voice when they reached the stables.

"Because we have to get rid of that irrational fear of horses of yours." Malina answered. "Hey Daniel!" She waved at a young man that was taking care of one of the horses a few meters away. When he heard Malina call him he turned around and walked over to him.

"Hey Malina. Good to see you again." He said. "I see you brought company."

Malina nodded. "Yup, I sure did. This girl here is Mary Margaret, she's new here, moved her yesterday with her little sister and father."

"Hi." Snow said. "Nice to meet you."

"And this-" Malina continued. "Well I'm sure you know who this is." The blonde said while she pointed at Regina.

Regina blushed a little and held her hand out for Daniel to shake it. "Regina Mills." She whispered.

Daniel shook her hand and sent a kind smile her way. "Hi Regina. You decided to try out the stables here?"

"Uh…I don't…I—"

"She's afraid of horses so we're trying to get her over it." Snow, who thought Regina was taking to long answering, said for her.

"O but there is no need for that. We have to do something about that indeed." Daniel said and he sent Regina another smile which made her blush again. She didn't know why, but his smiles, they gave her a strange feeling, some sort of tingling in her stomach.

"You know how to ride Mary?" Daniel asked.

Snow nodded. "Yes I do."

"Well then I suggest you and Malina can take care of yourself, while I help miss Mills here to overcome her fears." And when Daniel winked at Regina she felt herself blush even more.

Snow who noticed, was having a hard time not to laugh. They obviously hadn't met before, and they may not know they were married in the other life, but Daniel's smiles obviously still had the same effect on Regina.

* * *

"Ok, so tell me. Why are you afraid of horses?" Daniel asked her when Snow and Malina had left.

"I- I fell off of one when I was little, and since then I've just been too scared to try again." Regina admitted.

"How did you fall off? Did the horse get wild?"

Regina shook her head. "I don't really know anymore, it's a long time ago. I can't even really tell what it is I am so afraid of. It's just, when I think of horses I feel an inexplicable fear, so badly it almost paralyzes me." Regina didn't know why, but she felt safe telling Daniel this, normally she didn't, for she didn't want to be found weak, but it seemed okay to tell Daniel. "I'm sorry." She added. "You must think I am crazy for feeling this but…"

"No." Daniel interrupted her. "I don't think that at all. Fears are 90 per cent of the time irrational, but that doesn't make them less real, or less bad. It's a real feeling, and it's okay to feel that way, as long as you are also willing to overcome that fear."

Regina smiled at him, and Daniel noticed right in that moment what a beautiful young woman she was. "I am willing to overcome my fears." She replied.

"Well good." Daniel smiled. "Then why don't we just try to go brush this lady here. No need to get you on a horse right away. We'll just start slowly okay?" Regina nodded but when Daniel started to walk to the horse, he noticed Regina didn't follow. When he turned around he saw her staring at the horse with eyes big with fear. He walked back, took her hand in his and gently pulled her with him in the direction of the horse. "It's okay." He said softly. "I'm here with you. Nothing will happen, I'll protect you, I promise."

The tingling Regina had been feeling in her stomach when Daniel had smiled at her, returned at these words and in that moment she felt incredibly safe. She really believed he would protect her and after a small nod she followed him towards the horse.

"Now, we're going to use this brush. Just brush her back gently but firm. She won't do anything, she'll like it." Daniel said as he gave her the brush. When he saw Regina hesitate he placed his hand over hers and brought her hand to the mare's back. They brushed the back of the horse in silence for a while. "See? That wasn't that scary now was it?" Daniel asked and he couldn't help but laugh when he saw the smile on the girls face and the joy in her eyes.

Regina turned around a little to face the man behind her. "Thank you." She said softly. "Thank you for helping me. I don't know why I was so afraid to even come near them at first. I really was scared to death, but when you are here, and show me what to do like this…" Her voice trailed off as she realized how close they were and moreover, how close their faces and lips were.

Daniel smiled at her when she stopped talking and looked into the dark brown eyes of the girl, those eyes were really beautiful, he thought. "I am glad I could help. I think you might be ready already to get on the horse next time."

"Yes…" Regina now said softly, "I think so too." Her voice sounded slightly distracted while she got caught up in those beautiful blue eyes of him. She realized she was staring at him and tried to look away only for her eyes to land on staring at his lips. Slowly she closed the gap between their faces and their lips brushed against one another for a few seconds, before Daniel closed the gap entirely and pressed his lips against Regina's. They shared a kiss that grew more and more passionate by the minute and they only parted when it became hard to breathe.

The moment Regina didn't feel Daniel's lips on hers anymore she missed them, as the butterflies in her stomach calmed down, at the same moment however a wave of panic hit her at the realization of what had just happened. She had just kissed a man she had known for maybe just an hour. She set a few steps back, eyes wide with shock. "I- I'm so sorry…"She stammered. "I- I need to go." And with that she turned around and ran away from the stables all the way back home, ignoring Daniel who was calling her name after her to come back….

* * *

**Well there you go. Not my best chapter but an update nonetheless. **

**I'm experiencing great trouble with the joints in my arms and wrists, and therefore writing has become extremely hard. That together with the fact that I have to write my Bachelor thesis in this month and the next, makes that updates won't come as frequently as they did. However, I do am planning on continuing this story and the other two I'm still writing on. So don't worry, updates just may take a little longer.**

**This is also the reason why there might be more typos and mistakes in my chapters, I costs me a lot of time to write a chapter, so I don't always have the time and energy to reread it for mistakes. Sorry in advance.**

**Please leave a review, because I'm very unsure about this chapter, and I realize things might be confusing.**

**X**

**Metope**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9  
**

* * *

"I'm home!" Snow called when she entered the house she now lived in with Jefferson and Grace.

She entered the living room and was met with their curious eyes directed at her.

"And? How did it go?" Grace asked excited. "Did she recognize Daniel? Did they kiss?"

"Grace, calm down. Snow just came home, let her sit down first and then tell her story. And don't expect too much of it, I'm sure they haven't kissed yet." Jefferson said smiling at his youngest daughter. For that's how he thought about Grace now, she was his _youngest_ daughter, Snow was the eldest.

He had quickly grown to love the girl in these past few years. When they got in this strange world without magic they only had each other, they had to stick together, and they quickly bonded. Of course Snow was confused at first, and scared, and she had cried a lot, but Grace had proven to be a great comfort, and slowly the brunette had learned to trust the girl and her father. However, Snow had never started to call him dad, and Jefferson was okay with that, he knew the girl loved him and he loved her, and that was enough.

They had managed to settle in quite quickly as well. Jefferson had quickly figured out how to get to this land from Neverland, and had discovered that with the help of the fairies that still lived there he was able to travel back and forth. Therefore they had stayed in Neverland for a month before they entered 'the real world'. In that month Jefferson had been studying the people that lived here, what they did, what they ate, what a car was, how internet worked, what a phone was, everything. And after that month he thought he and the girls knew enough about this world to fit in. The rest of the wonders of the world they would find out later. He had quickly enrolled Snow and Grace into a school and he himself had found a job at a travel agency. He liked travelling and there was so much about this world he didn't know, that it seemed to be perfect to him. Rumplestiltskin had told him Snow would have to save them by the time she was eighteen, so to him that meant they had five years to discover this world before the serious stuff would have to happen.

And Rumplestiltskin had been right, the moment Snow had turned eighteen Grace had come home with an old dusty book she had found in the school library, stating that 'their real stories' – not the pathetic Disney versions – were in this book. It had taken them a couple of days to read all the stories together. The story about Jiminy Cricket, about Maleficent, about the miller's daughter, about Rumplestiltskin and his son, and finally towards the end of the book they had come to the story of Regina and her stable boy. They'd all expected it to end with the curse being cast, however there were a few pages left, and on the very last page there was a picture of a town sign stating: "Storybrooke" and a map next to it. Jefferson still remembered how the three of them had looked at each other all understanding that it was time to break the curse.

"Well, "Snow started while she sat down on the couch next to Grace. "The funny thing is, we eventually got Regina to come with us, so Malina and I left her so she could have some 'bonding time' with Daniel. But I had forgotten to take a brush for the horse with me so when I walked back I caught them _kissing_, even though they've never met, so you can imagine how happy I was. However, nothing happened, no sign of something breaking, a sign of magic, nothing, and none of them acted differently, they didn't seem to remember. Regina just got in shock after she realised she had just kissed a, for her cursed self, total stranger and ran off."

"But that can't be all!" Grace now exclaimed. "They are each other's true love, Rumplestiltskin said so himself, and true love can break any curse!"

"I know...yet the fact remains that they still don't remember, Gracie." Snow sighed.

"But our, or maybe just _your_ presence did change things." Jefferson said. "It was quite obvious Cora was furious and confused that that big clock has started to work again. Meaning time really was frozen here and has started to pass again when we arrived."

Snow nodded. "Yes, that's what I was thinking too, so maybe...maybe we'll just have to wait and see what happens. Now the citizens here aren't trapped and condemned to living the same day over and over again, things will change automatically..."

"Maybe you should try to find Rumplestiltskin." Grace piped up.

"If you do that, I'm coming with you. He may be a harmless pawn broker here, but you never know." Jefferson said and Snow smiled at him.

"That's fine." She said. "You want to go now?" and when Jefferson nodded she stood up to get her coat again.

"Can I come too?" Grace asked. "No I'd rather have you stay here, Gracie." Jefferson said lovingly.

"Why is that? I'm sixteen, I'm not a baby." Grace protested.

"She has a point, Jefferson." Snow smiled. "The age difference between us is practically none, and you do let me go."

"Fine." Jefferson sighed. "But you have to do exactly as we say, I have no interest in losing you along the way."

"Thanks Snow." Grace beamed while she ran to the hall and got her coat.

* * *

"Ah, the new family." Gold greeted the three of them when they entered the dark shop. "I hope the house is to your liking?"

Jefferson smiled formerly. "Yes, it's a great house. I'm Jefferson." He then said while he held his hand out. Gold shook the hand with a smile as he introduced himself. "And these two ladies are your daughters I assume?"

Jefferson nodded. "Yes, this is my youngest, Grace, and the eldest here is Snow."

Snow and Grace couldn't help but gasp at Jefferson's mistake and he too stopped talking, his mouth still open and his eyes wide.

"O my f-father made a mistake, I'm Mary Margaret, Snow is just a nickname he sometimes calls me because I was born during one of the harshest winters of all." Snow hastily said, but her voice trailed off when she saw how Gold set a few steps back in confusion while he closed his eyes and frowned.

"Mr. Gold is everything alright?" Grace asked and she set a step back when Gold looked up again and there was a wicked grin on his face.

"Snow White..." He said in a soft voice. "You've come to save us. I remember now. It's a good thing your _father_ made that mistake. I'd made sure I would start to remember again the moment I would hear your name, if he had introduced you with your fake name, that would never have happened."

"Grace I want you to come here right now." Jefferson said in a firm voice.

"Now, no need to get all hostile. The conversation was just going so nicely." The man said. "I've no magic here, there is no need to be afraid of me, _and_ I am on your side. You should be glad that I remember, now I can help you."

"Well, then we would like to make use of that help of yours right now." Snow said. "Because yesterday, I brought Regina with me to the stables to meet Daniel. Because, you see, they never met because Cora has implanted some irrational fear of horses in Regina's mind. So I brought them together, and then after a while I walked in on them kissing, but nothing happened."

"What did you expect to happen then?" Gold asked.

"Well, aren't they each other's true loves? They kissed, it was true love's kiss, and that can break any curse, right?" Snow said in annoyance.

The pawn broker just smiled. "True love can do a lot, but in this case the _kiss_ is not enough."

"Then what _is_ enough, Rumple." Jefferson asked. "What is it Snow needs to do?"

Gold shook his head. "O, you don't really have to do anything anymore, Snow. Your role in breaking the curse was entering the town so time would pass again. That has obviously happened and now we will just have to wait..."

"Wait for what?" Grace asked.

"You will see, young Grace." The man answered. "I suggest you three make yourself at home in this little town and just enjoy your time here. Maybe you could take Regina a little more often with you to the stables, Snow White. In this world, she is a very timid girl that obeys her mother in everything, it's not healthy. With the curse weakening that leaves room for her cursed personality to change and to start to resemble her true self more again. You could help her with that."

Snow nodded. "Then that I will do." She said, and she meant it. She cared for Regina and she had known exactly what Gold meant when he said this world's Regina was rather timid. She was nothing like the energetic young woman she had been back in their land, she didn't stand up against her mother, she just did exactly as the woman said, and that would have to change...

* * *

Regina was lying on her back on the bed in her room, staring at the ceiling while she was thinking. Or actually, she was trying not to panic. It had been a week since she had kissed the stable boy Daniel, she hadn't seen him ever since, she hadn't told anyone about it either thinking it would be best if her mother didn't know she had gone to the stables in the first place. Mary had asked her to come with her to the stables a couple of times over the week but she had declined every time, saying she had too much homework to do, or that she just wasn't feeling up to it. Luckily Mary didn't really push it, instead she had asked Regina to come over at her place tonight have a movie night together with Malina and some other girls she had met at school. Regina had expected her mother to say no, but Cora seemed to be distracted lately, and when Regina had asked if she could go, she had simply told her to go ask her father.

Her mother _never_ did that, she never let her father make the decisions, but Regina thought it wasn't a smart move to point that out to her mother and so she had happily agreed with her mother's answer and had asked her father instead. Of course Henry had given his approval right away, he was happy to see that his daughter finally seemed to make some friends of her own age.

However, it didn't seem as if she would go to the movie night after all. She had just been about to go when her mother entered the hallway asking her where she was going. Regina had reminded her of the movie night and how she had asked her for permission and how her mother had said she should ask her father. While explaining this to her mother Regina had seen her mother's eyes darken in an anger she couldn't really explain. She hadn't done anything wrong.

"_You are not going."_ Was all Cora had said. Regina had tried to reason with her mother, but the moment the word 'but' had left her lips her mother had walked over to her, had grabbed her arm and had practically dragged her to her room, forcefully releasing her. She had then left and had locked the door, leaving her daughter behind.

So now Regina was lying on her bed, desperately fighting the tears that were about to fall from her eyes. She didn't understand anything that had happened. Her mother never was this violent towards her. She could be mean, but her punishments usually were 'the silent treatment' or she had to follow extra lessons. Regina got pulled out of her thoughts by her door opening, it was her mother. Quickly the girl sat up straight and waited for her mother to start talking.

"I'm sorry Regina." Cora started, and Regina couldn't help but look confused at her mother. Cora never apologized.

"I shouldn't have forced you to stay in your room like that, and I shouldn't have forbidden you to go that movie night."

"Then why did you?" Regina asked in a soft voice as she watched her mother walking towards her and then sitting down next to her on the bed. When her mother's arm brushed hers she jerked away in a reflex.

"O dear Regina. Don't be afraid. I don't know what came over me. Work has been very hectic, I had an argument with Mr. Gold and I think I took it out on you. I'm sorry." Cora said again, hurt by the way her daughter had jerked away from her. She hadn't done that since...before the curse. Cora knew she had made a mistake the moment she had walked away from the Regina's door. This was not how she wanted to be anymore, this was the old Cora, the Cora that punished her daughter too harshly. She had not ever hit Regina or physically hurt her daughter in any other way in this land, she had promised herself not to do that, and now she had broken that promise. And now she saw fear in her daughter's eyes, that fear that had always been there back in their land. The fear she hadn't seen in those brown eyes for so long, she had put their relationship, that was far better than it had ever been, on the line by this reckless move, and she regretted it.

"It's okay mother." Regina said softly while a single tear fell down her cheek. "I- I just really wanted to go. I finally have friends...they actually like me, you know. It's like...I...I just really wanted to go." She concluded and with that she leaned her head against her mother, who lovingly put an arm around her daughter.

"Well is it too late for you to go after all? It's only eight thirty?" Cora asked softly, content that her daughter seemed to have forgiven her.

Regina pulled away from her mother and looked at her with surprise in her eyes. "You mean I can go mother?"

Cora nodded in reply and Regina gave her mother a hug in response. "_Thank_ you, mother. That makes me really happy." She sighed. Cora responded by returning the hug, while she couldn't help but sigh in relief: Her daughter still loved her.

* * *

When Cora entered her daughter's room the following morning she saw Regina sleeping with a content smile on her face. It had been the right decision to let her daughter go to that movie night, even though she still didn't fully trust that Mary-clone-of-snow-white-girl.

Regina woke up by her mother opening the curtains. "O please mother. Can't I sleep for a little longer?"

"I'm sorry dear. You have piano lesson in an hour, so if you want to shower and eat a proper breakfast, made by _me_, you will have to get up now." Cora replied while she turned around to face Regina who now was sitting up in bed.

"Did you make breakfast? Really?" Regina asked surprised. "Why? What did you make?"

Cora smiled at her daughter, in the past five years Cora had had enough time to learn herself how to cook, she often didn't have the time to make something though, but on special occasions she did. "As an apology for last night, I made you chocolate pancakes."

"Well then I'll have breakfast first. The shower can wait." Regina replied happily while she got out of bed and quickly made her way down stairs to the kitchen.

When Cora entered the kitchen a little later she saw her daughter happily eating the pancakes she had made her. "Do you like them?"

"Yes, they're delicious thank you mother." Regina replied when her mouth was empty. "Oh mother, could you please hand me the coffeepot?"

"I am going to the office now, I will be home by five okay?" Cora said while she poured her daughter a cup of coffee instead.

Regina nodded while she took a sip from the coffee.

"Could you make sure that your father– O honey what's wrong?" Cora then asked confused when she saw Regina grimace and then quickly put her cup down as she ran to the bathroom. The sound of her daughter throwing up soon after answered her question and Cora quickly entered the bathroom to hold her daughter's hair back.

"Here, drink this." Cora said while she handed Regina a glass of water after it seemed that her body was done emptying her stomach. "Did you drink alcohol last night Regina?" Cora asked while her daughter gratefully took the glass of water.

"No mother. Of course not." Regina answered shocked.

"Are you sure? Because yesterday you seemed to be just fine, and now you're throwing up." Cora asked concerned.

"You – You always say I can't drink it so I didn't. There _was_ alcohol, Malina brought some, but I didn't have any of it, honestly I didn't. I don't know why I had to throw up, I just...the smell of that coffee..."

Cora nodded. "Okay, I believe you." She simply said, and she truly did. "I suggest we cancel your lessons for today and that you stay in bed."

"But I feel alright now." Regina protested. "Just a little tired."

"Well that is a sign of a stomach flu, dear." Cora responded. "Come on, back to bed with you."

* * *

Regina sighed in annoyance, she was bored to death and it was only just noon. Then her phone buzzed, indicating someone had texted her, it was Mary.

_**Hey, what are you up to?**_

**Not very much. Had to throw up this morning and now my mom thinks I've a stomach flu & had me stay in bed. I feel fine tho, just bored to death. **Regina texted back, and a reply from Mary immediately followed.

_**Feel like going to the stables with Malina and me? Think it´s time for step 2 in your anti-fear-of-horses-program?**_

Regina sighed, not sure what to do. Her mother wouldn't be home until five, so she had said. However there was the matter of Daniel...It would be incredibly awkward...On the other hand, she was literally dying of boredom here, and maybe Daniel had forgotten about her already. Regina was sure he was a popular guy, he was so handsome and he had a really beautiful smile and the bluest eyes she had ever seen and – _focus_ Regina.

**Why not. I'll meet you at the stables.** She texted back.

_**Great! CU There!**_

* * *

When Regina arrived at the stables Mary and Malina were already waiting for her, as was Daniel.

Mary waved at her. "Hey! Never thought you would actually come. We have a good influence on you." Mary joked.

"I have to be back at five." Regina replied. "Then my mother will be home."

"Well, that's doable." Malina remarked. "I say Mary and I go for a ride, while Daniel will help you again today? Ok?"

At the mention of Daniel, Regina felt her cheeks instantly redden. "Uhm..uh...y..yes okay, that's okay I guess." She stammered.

"Good. Then we're off. See you later!" Mary said happily and she quickly dragged Malina with her, leaving Regina with Daniel.

"Hey." Was all Daniel said.

"Hi." Regina replied. "I'm sorry about...about what happened the other time." She then continued while she stared at her feet. "That was..out of line."

Daniel just smiled at her while he took her hand in his. "It's okay. What happened, happened." He said, actually he didn't think it was okay at all. He regretted that she saw it as a mistake, because to him...when they had kissed he had felt so happy, so complete, and she was such a nice and sweet and beautiful girl. But he saw she was uncomfortable talking about it, and that she felt really ashamed, so he decided to just drop the matter. "Come, let's go get you on that horse." He said and he pulled her with him.

Regina sighed in relief at Daniel's reaction, it seemed as if he wasn't mad at her. The rest of the day she spend with Daniel explaining to her how to ride on a horse, how she could make the horse do what she wanted, how to stop him, how to go faster, and when he had explained all of it, he had suggested they would go for a horse ride together.

As scared as she was, she had agreed, she trusted Daniel. He knew a lot about horses and when she was with him she felt safe. And so he had helped her on the horse and went to sit behind her himself, and together they had ridden for a while, until they caught up with Mary and Malina who were on their way back to the stables.

"Well look at you!" Malina exclaimed. "Day two and you're already on a horse."

"Daniel helped me. He was really patient with me and my silly fears." Regina replied with a bright smile plastered on her face.

"I'm glad I could help." Daniel said from behind her with a smile just as bright. Snow, who was observing the two almost wanted to scream at them that they should be a couple, that they loved each other. "We should get back." Was what she said instead. "It's almost five and we wouldn't want Madam Mayor to find out her daughter has disobeyed her, now would we."

Regina's eyes widened and she shook her head. "She would kill me." She sighed. "I would be grounded for the rest of my life."

"Well then I think it is best indeed to head back." Daniel concluded and he turned the horse around.

Regina had just put her pyjamas on again when she heard her mother come home, quickly she got into her bed and waited for Cora to come check on her, which happened within the next five minutes.

"Hello dear, how are you feeling?" Cora asked when she entered the room.

"I'm feeling fine mother." Regina replied truthfully.

"Well you do look better than you did this morning, I think we can continue your lessons tomorrow again, don't you think?"

"Yes mother." Regina said with a smile. Regina did look better than she had done this morning, although that had had nothing to do with her staying in bed, quite the opposite actually.

* * *

**O my God, I thought I had uploaded this chapter a week ago already..but apparently NOT, so now here it is..and you all get to chapters at once **

**please R&R! ^^**

**x**

**Metope**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

* * *

When Cora entered the house she was met by the sound of her daughter humming some song with a smile on her face while she was studying.

"Well you have been awfully happy these past few days, dear." She greeted her daughter.

Regina shrugged. "Guess it's because it's spring. Everything seems to be much better and more beautiful."

Cora smiled, she was sure it had something to do with her new found friends as well. It had been a month since Mary and her father and sister had come to live in Storybrooke, and since then Regina appeared to be happier than she had ever been. Apart from that, Mary didn't seem to be such a threat after all. Cora didn't really have the impression that anything had changed since her arrival apart from the clock that had started to tick again. "Well, I am glad you are happy dear. I will start dinner now." Cora answered and she made her way to the kitchen.

Regina sighed. It wasn't spring at all that made her so happy, unless spring was code for _Daniel_ maybe. Since Daniel had cured her of her fear of horses she had actually grown rather fond of the animals _and_ on the stable boy. She would sneak out of the house every afternoon when she was supposed to be studying by herself and would go to the stables. There she would get riding lessons from Daniel while they would talk about all sorts of things. She had learned that Daniel lived with his sister, Alice, who was a teacher and that it was his dream to become a veterinarian one day. However, he didn't have the money to go to college, so for now the stable was his place to be. He was a good listener too, and he really understood her. Sometimes she didn't have to explain everything and he would already know how she felt. When she was with him she could freely talk about the pressure she felt coming from her mother. The pressure to do well, to never fail, the fact that she didn't really dare to confront her mother with that. That her father would always side with her mother in the end. That she loved her mother with all her heart, but it was difficult with her at times. And then one day, about two weeks ago, the subject had suddenly landed on the kiss they shared when they had first met, and that had changed everything. She didn't even really remember how it had happened, they had been talking about her friends, she believed..

"_It's funny." Regina said while she sat down in the grass against a tree, Daniel went to sit next to her._

"_Mary is all about hugging as a way of greeting us or saying goodbye and Malina doesn't like to do that at all, she's all fierce and independent. So it always is a little awkward."_

_Daniel grinned, in his mind he could see the always happy brunette trying to give the dark and twisty blonde a hug. "And what about you?" He then asked._

"_Me? I – uhm, wel first I felt a little uncomfortable. I'm not used to hug people, my mother – she isn't much of a hugger, only when we have had an argument or something...but now I'm quite used to it."_

"_Ahah, I see." Daniel said with a smirk on his face._

"_What is that smirk for?" Regina asked confused but with a smile._

"_Well..you say you aren't too comfortable being..intimate with people...yet I can remember a certain someone kissing me the first time she met me..."_

_Regina's cheeks turned red instantly. "Uh- that was..I...I apologized for that! And...besides..it was __you__ who eventually kissed me." She huffed._

"_May be, but you initiated it, you know that's true. But don't worry..I am not mad about it, I won't hold it against you. You're quite a good kisser, I rather enjoyed it." Daniel continued to tease._

_Regina didn't know what to say. On one hand she was extremely happy that he had enjoyed it on the other hand he made it sound as if that was all to him. She was flattered and insulted at the same time and eventually insulted won over flattered and she stood up abruptly and walked to her horse, making it ready to mount it again._

_Daniel quickly followed her. "Regina, what are you doing?" He asked, but the brunette didn't answer. However when he saw the thin line that was her mouth and the frown on her face he knew he had gone too far._

"_Look, I am sorry Regina. I was only joking."_

_Regina snorted. "Well great insulting jokes you make mister." _

"_Since when is complimenting a girl the same as insulting?" Daniel asked confused._

"_It is when that's all you see in me. If that's all I am to you. Then it is just insulting." She spat back._

_Daniel was quite for a while as Regina was trying to saddle the horse again, failing miserably because she was too angry to focus. "Oh." He then said. "But that wasn't at all my intention Regina. That's not at all how I see you."_

_Regina stopped with what she was doing temporarily. "It is not?" She then asked, her eyes still fixed on the horse. She felt how Daniel's hand softly touched her arm and turned her around when she looked up at him she was met by his perfect blue eyes._

"_No, it is not." He said. "When I look at you, I see a girl with beautiful raven brown hair and the most intense chocolate brown eyes I've ever seen. She is really good with horses and she can be really funny too. Sometimes she can be very stubborn but she has the most beautiful and radiant smile I have ever seen. And after all that, __then__ I remember that she is a great kisser too." And having that said he leaned in and softly captured her lips with his. _

_Regina softly kissed him back and parted her lips, giving Daniel the chance to deepen the kiss. They only parted when it became absolutely necessary to breathe and all Regina could do was stare in those blue eyes again, those beautiful blue eyes that reminded her of so much, yet she couldn't quite say what it was it reminded her of._

And since that day she had been with Daniel every day, and she was happier than ever, _he_ made her happier than ever. Regina sighed, she wasn't feeling hungry at all though. She had had to throw up a couple of times throughout these past weeks but she had made sure to keep it hidden from her mother. If Cora knew, she would most certainly keep Regina inside again, or send her to a doctor, and apart from the throwing up she felt fine, so she didn't really see a reason to worry.

* * *

The following morning Regina woke up feeling more tired than usual. Maybe she shouldn't go horse riding every day, she thought, she wasn't used to so much exercise. However, horseback riding was the only cover for her and Daniel to be together. So despite the strong want to stay in bed for the rest of the day she dragged herself out of bed, showered and entered the kitchen to greet her father, her mother always left early on Wednesdays.

"Hi." She said in a soft voice.

"You look terribly tired sweetheart." Her father said.

Regina shrugged. "Bad night, I guess."

"Well make sure you eat well then, to gain some strength. We wouldn't want you to get sick." Henry said concerned while he placed a kiss on his daughter's head. "I'm going to the office now. Your mother said she would be home in time to make dinner."

Regina just nodded, feeling too exhausted to do anything else. When she heard her father leave the house she forced herself to eat some toast and drink a glass of milk, feeling her stomach wouldn't agree with anything else. After eating she did feel a little better though, and the prospect of seeing Daniel this afternoon made her feel better as well.

"Hey you." Daniel said with a smile when Regina entered the stables. He immediately snaked his arms around her waist and patted a soft kiss on her lips.

"Hey you." Regina replied with a smile.

"You look tired, everything okay?" Daniel asked worried, not convinced when his girlfriend nodded she was.

"Just a bad night, that's all." Regina replied. "Couldn't really sleep." She lied, for she had slept perfectly fine.

"That's because all the secrecy is keeping you up at night." Daniel stated. "Why don't you just tell your parents and friends about us? We have been together for almost a month now."

Regina looked away from Daniel. "I am afraid my mother won't agree and that she won't let me go to see you anymore."

"Well, your sneaking behind your parents' back now too, so what would make the difference? At least then you have tried, and if she does agree with it, that would save us a lot of trouble. What could she ever do to us if she wouldn't agree?" Daniel replied.

Regina shrugged. "I don't know." She whispered. "I just feel like I shouldn't tell her."

"That's just because you're afraid, Regina." Daniel said while he softly touched her face and then gently pulled her towards him so she would look at him again. "You have bags under your eyes, it would be much better if you wouldn't have the stress of keeping us a secret on your shoulders. Face your fears, Regina, remember?"

Regina smiled and softly kissed him. "I remember. You win, I will tell them tonight."

"Good." Daniel said, smiling back at her.

"But now I'm done talking. Let's go." Regina said and she pulled away from Daniel and turned around to go to the horses, maybe just a little too quickly, as she felt a short wave of dizziness hitting her.

"Are you okay Regina?" She heard Daniel's concerned voice.

She nodded in reassurance. "Yes, I just moved to quickly that's all. Now come, I want to race against you."

When she felt the wind run through her hair like this she felt more free than she had ever felt before. She laughed out loud when Daniel suddenly raced past her on his horse. She knew he had been holding back, but so had she, it was time to show him what they really could do. In no time she had caught up with Daniel and raced past him.

However it was then that she suddenly felt her head become heavy and her vision blur a little. She immediately let the horse slow down, feeling a rush of wind when Daniel past her again. However when he saw something was wrong with Regina he immediately made his horse turn around.

Regina was now hanging over the neck of the horse a bit, holding her head in an attempt to stop the dizziness she was experiencing. Daniel quickly dismounted from his horse and got over to Regina.

"Come." He said firm, worry clearly audible in his voice. "Let's get you off that horse first." All Regina could do was lean over to Daniel who was holding his arms up to help her get down. When she was standing on the ground again, or rather hanging in Daniel's arms for her own legs didn't seem to be too reliable, the world was still turning.

"Regina. Talk to me. Is everything okay? What do you feel?" Daniel asked, the brunette didn't reply except for a small whimper escaping her lips.

"So tired..." she managed to breathe and then collapsed in Daniel's arms, blackness surrounding her.

"Regina? Regina! Wake up! Regina." Daniel cried out in panic while he was holding the limp body of the girl in his arms. She did still breathe, but she seemed to be out cold. There was no time to waste, Daniel decided, he had to get her to the hospital, and the quickest way to do that was to go there by horse right now. And so he first lifted Regina on the horse and then himself. Bringing her in a sort of sitting position he leaned her back against him so he could still hold the reigns but make sure Regina was okay at the same time and then quickly made his way to the hospital.

* * *

Cora and Henry hastily made their way through the hospital to the room they had been informed their daughter was in. They both had been called by the hospital stating their daughter had been brought in unconscious, more they hadn't been told yet.

Cora didn't understand any of this, the curse was supposed to make sure that no one would get life threatening injuries, no one was supposed to get so sick that they would faint. Maybe time had started to pass again after all, and when she saw, while entering the room, who was sitting next to her sleeping daughter, softly caressing her face, his other hand holding hers, she knew there was something thoroughly wrong.

"What did you do to my daughter?" Was the first thing she practically barked after recognizing the stable boy.

Daniel immediately stood up from his chair holding his hands up. "I didn't do anything Madam Mayor. We were just horseback riding when Regina started to feel unwell. I got to her as quickly as I could and helped her off her horse. I asked her what was wrong but she was just whimpering and then she just collapsed. After that I brought her here. The doctors have just done some blood tests, I expect them to be back soon."

Cora growled, and if eyes could kill, Daniel was sure he would have been death thrice in the short time the Mayor and her husband had arrived.

"Why was my daughter even at the stables, _horse_back riding? She is afraid of horses." Cora spat.

"I know. She was." Daniel answered. "But I helped her get over that fear. And now she is rather fond of horses. We...I...I have been giving her riding lessons every day for the past four weeks."

Before Cora could throw another insult at the boys head she felt her husband's hand on her arm. "Cora. Calm down." Henry said. "This boy has done nothing wrong. From what I understand it's more like he saved our daughter by taking her here. Don't take your fear and frustration out on him."

Cora sighed and realised Henry was true. She hadn't even gone over to her daughter yet, too angry about the fact that even in this land this stable boy had been able to come between her and her daughter. But now was not the time to worry about that, now was the time to worry about her daughter. And Cora immediately walked over to her daughter who seemed to be peacefully sleeping.

"Ah you have arrived." A voice sounded from the door and they saw Doctor Whale standing in the door way with a couple of reports and papers in his hand. "The results of the blood test have come back and I'm glad to say that there is nothing too serious going on with your daughter."

"Then what happened?" Henry asked. "Why did she faint?"

"Your daughter fainted from being overtired." Whale stated.

"Nonsense." Cora answered. "I make sure she goes to sleep at a respectable hour every night."

"That can be." Dr. Whale continued patiently. "But in your daughter's current state every day activities could already cause exhaustion."

"What state? What do you mean? Do you mean the fact that she has been going to the stables every day?" Cora asked sharply.

Dr. Whale shook his head. "No Madam Mayor. Even though that sure has a part in it, the reason why your daughter fainted is because she is about 8 weeks pregnant."

* * *

**Whoop Evil Cliffhanger 3! Don't hate me too much please :P!**

**Reviews make me happy so please write them ****!**

**x**

**Metope**


	11. Chapter 11

**So several people asked me to summarize what has happened up until now because they didn't understand it anymore so:**

**Before the curse: Regina and Daniel get married, Cora finds out and disappears in a rage, Daniel and Regina continue their lives until one day Rumplestiltskin shows up, warning them about Cora who will cast a curse. The imp reveals that Regina is pregnant – something she had only found out herself recently and hadn't told Daniel or her father yet – and that this infant, born from true love, will save them all. However Cora won't cast the curse for a long time, according to Rumplestiltskin and therefore he freezes the state Regina's pregnancy is in by magic (being about 4 weeks along or so). The curse however comes quicker than expected and the wardrobe through which Regina would travel isn't done yet. Rumpelstiltskin has misinterpreted his vision, it isn't Regina who has to return with her child to Storybrooke it is Snow White. She will be responsible for time starting to pass again. After that it will be the child indeed who will break the curse.**

**Because of the fact that this world does not contain magic, the spell on Regina's pregnancy broke the moment Cora cast the curse, however, because time was frozen in Storybrooke, this didn't change anything for Regina. Now, Snow is back, time has started again, the spell on Regina's pregnancy is lifted and so her pregnancy continues….**

**I hope this answers all your questions, if not, feel free to ask, I am happy to explain.**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Daniel was sitting in the one chair that was in Regina's hospital room impatiently waiting for her to wake up. After Dr. Whale had quite literally dropped a bomb, it had been Cora to explode, accusing him of 'knocking up her innocent daughter' and calling him names that daylight should not hear. Daniel had just let her scream and only after Henry had calmed his wife down he had explained to her how he wasn't responsible for 'the state of their daughter' for he only knew Regina for a month now. He had been introduced to her by Mary, so that was also proof that he couldn't be the 'father' of Regina's child, for she was pregnant for two months already.

Cora unable to cope with this fact decided to leave the hospital for a while to calm down, Mr. Mills followed and now Daniel was sitting here, alone and boiling mad for he felt betrayed. He needed to talk to Regina about this, and he wanted it to be over as soon as possible, which was why he was waiting here now for her to wake up.

Daniel sighed as he leaned back in the chair, he closed his eyes but opened them only seconds later when he heard a whimper coming from Regina's bed. Ahe was waking up and he quickly walked over to the bed.

"Daniel.." Regina said, her voice hoarse of sleep. "What happened?"

"You fainted, I brought you to the hospital, turns out you were overtired." His curt answer was.

Regina frowned. "I did feel tired yes…are my parents here too?""

Daniel gave a short nod. "They were here a couple of minutes ago, I expect them to be back soon."

"Daniel are you okay? You look tensed."

"I'm fine."

"O.." She didn't believe him, but she was too tired to make a point of it. "Did the doctors say anything else? Did they say why I felt so exhausted today?"

Daniel nodded again, here goes nothing, he thought before he answered. "You're 8 weeks pregnant."

Regina laughed. "Very funny. Now tell me, what did they say?"

Daniel sighed annoyed. "Doctor Whale _said_ that you are eight weeks _pregnant_."

Regina frowned again, she looked at Daniel's face and saw that he wasn't joking, she didn't understand. "What…?" she choked out.

"Well that were my thoughts _exactly_ when he told your parents and me, what the hell Regina! How could you do this to me!?"

Regina's confusion now made place for anger, for she was not pleased with his tone at all. "Excuse me? How could _I_ do this to _you_? I don't even know what _this_ is, I am not pregnant I can assure you, or you must know of an activity we performed together that I have no recollection of whatsoever!"

"Well no _we_ did nothing, for I only know you for a month and you are _two_ months pregnant. Jesus how stupid do you think that I am? Acting all innocent and prudish when I met you. While you've made it 'til fourth base long ago already! You betrayed me Regina! What were you thinking? That stupid stable boy will play along? He will cover for me, say it is his, so you won't have to explain to everyone how you got knocked up by some guy that clearly didn't stick around?!"

"Get out." Regina growled, and when Daniel didn't move fast enough to her taste she yelled at him again. "Get out Daniel! Go Away! If you think _that_ little of me, than you better stay away for ever." And to emphasize her feelings she threw one of the hospital pillows his way.

When he had left she allowed herself to cry. What on earth was going on? She couldn't be pregnant, she had never slept with anyone in her life, not with Daniel, and before Daniel there had been no one. However, the throwing up and the fact that she had felt so tired did sound like symptoms of an early pregnancy. Time to think about all of this she didn't get because she saw her parents coming her way through the window, and their faces didn't look too happy.

"Mother, daddy..I.." She started in a broken voice heavy with the tears she had just shed, but her mother held up her hand while she handed Regina's clothes over to her daughter.

"We are _not_ going to discuss this here." Was all she said in an angry voice. "Get dressed. Dr. Whale discharged you earlier, saying you could go home once you had woken up."

Knowing that arguing with her mother wasn't an option now, Regina did as she was told while tears kept running down her face.

* * *

"Sit down." Cora commanded when they entered the living room and then to her husband: "Henry can you please leave us."

The man nodded, this was something he wasn't good at, Cora was much better in dealing with these kind of situations.

"Well, how do you explain yourself, young lady?" Cora asked once Henry had closed the door behind his wife and daughter.

Regina looked at her mother with tears in her eyes. "I…I don't know…"

"Nonsense…I'm sure I do not have to explain you how women get pregnant..so of course you _know_.." Cora answered curtly.

Regina shook her head. "No I really don't.." she cried. "I don't understand any of this. It's a mistake, I am not pregnant."

"Regina, the fact that you had to throw up at the smell of coffee a couple of weeks ago, the fact that you're constantly tired…you are pregnant…the blood tests proved it. Now just tell me, _who_ is the father? It can't be this _stable boy_ you have been seeing behind our back, so then who is?"

"I don't know mother." Regina repeated her head down, eyes focusing on her hands that were resting in her lap.

Cora, however now lost her patience. "I don't have time for this Regina! _Tell_ me who got you pregnant!"

"But I don't _know_! I wasn't _with_ anyone before Daniel!" Regina now yelled, frustrated by the fact that her mother didn't believe her.

"How is that possible! There has to have been someone Regina, unless you want to say that it was an immaculate conception, but I think we both know that is nonsense."

"Well that must have been it." Regina said stubbornly. "Because I did NOT sleep with ANYONE, EVER!" Regina now jumped up from the couch, anger fuelling her body.

"Do not talk to me in such a way young lady!" Cora too got up from her chair, the two Mills women now facing each other, both with their dark brown eyes filled with anger.

_Let's try a new approach_, Cora thought and she softened her voice. "Regina, you can tell me. Even if it happened without your consent, you can tell me everything, dear."

Regina shook her head.

"W-Was it your piano teacher? Did he do something?"

"What? No! Mother, what are you even implying here!"Regina yelled in anger.

"Well then tell me how it happened!" Cora yelled back, losing her temper once again.

"I told you already! I. DON'T. KNOW!" Cora saw her daughter's body trembling with anger while tears left her eyes in a rapid rate.

"Mommy, why don't you believe me! I truly don't know." The girl cried while she know walked over to her mother and pulled softly at Cora's arm as to emphasize her words. "I know perfectly well that this sounds ridiculous, but I really don't know. I really can't remember…" She sobbed.

And at those words it started to dawn at Cora.. maybe she couldn't _remember_ for it hadn't happened in Storybrooke in the first place. Cora sighed and pulled an arm around Regina walking her back towards the couch and softly went to sit down with her while she held her crying daughter in her arms. When Regina seemed to calm down a little Cora softly took her daughter's head in her hands, forcing the girl to look at her."Regina, dear. I want you to look at me, and answer truthfully what I'm going to ask you, okay?" And she continued when the girl nodded with watery eyes.

"Do you remember when was the last time you had your period?"

Regina opened her mouth to answer, but then closed it again, Cora watched intently as Regina's eyebrows moved together in a frown, and when Cora saw her daughter's eyes haze over for just a second, she knew her theory to be correct. She had asked after something Regina couldn't have recollection of because she had never had her period in this land for she had already been pregnant at the time. The curse took care of it, preventing her from starting to wonder about how that was possible.

"It's okay if you can't remember dear." Cora helped Regina out of her confusion and she pulled her daughter back in a hug stroking her hair. "It will all be fine, this is not your fault." _Entirely_ she added to that in her mind. So Regina was pregnant with the stable boy's child after all, proving that yet again that stable boy had been able to come between her and her daughter. He had been able to cause problems between them, just like the last time, Cora thought. However, the problem was taken care of, he was mad at Regina, thinking she had used him to cover for her, so that story had already ended. Now she would just have to go after Snow White. Because it was clear to Cora now, that Mary girl was Snow White indeed. How else could time suddenly start to pass again with the arrival of the girl that looked so much like her?

* * *

Cora sighed as she gathered the files that were on her desk and stood up. She was done for today. She had made extremely little progress, her mind had been with her daughter all the time. She wanted Regina to give up the baby. A baby didn't fit in the vision Cora had for Regina. Now time had started to pass again, but no one had remembered for as far as Cora knew, that meant that there were new opportunities. She could lead Regina to the greatness she was meant for, and a child didn't fit in that picture.

"Ah Madam mayor, how good to see you." Cora suddenly heard an all too familiar voice coming from behind her, sending shivers down her spine.

"Mr. Gold, unfortunately I can't say the same."

The pawn broker held up his hand as to emphasize he was coming in peace. "No need to be all offensive, Mrs. Mills. I just stopped by to let you know that I heard about 'the situation with your daughter' and that I wanted to let you know that if you would ever need my help to, let's say, find an adoptive mother for the child, I would be happy to help…_Ruining your chances on getting the child adopted that is_. The imp added to that in his mind, it was of a vital importance that Regina would keep the child, Rumplestiltskin didn't exactly know when it would be that the child would break the curse, and if Cora would force her daughter into giving up the child, that could cause problems.

Cora sent the man a polite smile. "Thank you for offering your services, Mr. Gold. But I don't think we will need them."

"So you are okay with the fact that your grandchild will be the child of a stable boy then?" The man asked.

"Oh, Daniel is not the father of this child." Cora answered. "They didn't know each other back then."

The man now smiled a devious smile while he set a step closer to the woman. "O, but I think we both know that, in the end, it _is_ his child, _dearie_."

Cora's eyes widened and all the blood drained from her face at the sound of that word. "Rumplestiltskin at your service, dearie." The man grinned while Cora was still speechless.

"Snow White broke the curse?" She eventually asked, fear clearly audible in her voice.

"Oh, so you did figure that part out about our dear Mary out. But don't worry dear, she didn't break the curse on this town, just the curse on me, like it was written. It isn't her you have to beware of."

"Then who?" Cora snarled. "What did you do? Who will break this curse?"

"Why your grandchild of course, the product of true love."

Cora gasped.

"So I will ask it again. If you might need my services to find a new family for the child, I would be happy to help you dearie."

Cora could only nod and it was only after the man had walked away that she allowed herself to panic even more over this situation.

Regina's child would break the curse. That couldn't happen. It would ruin everything; they would all remember what she had done. _Regina_ would remember what she had done; she would go back to hating her again. The best scenario would be for the child to die, but that she couldn't do to Regina, and so she was back to the plan she had decided upon a couple of days ago already: Regina would have to give up the child. Nothing had changed, Cora tried to convince herself, just the necessity of convincing Regina into doing so had increased.

As for Snow White…she didn't pose a threat after all. Not if she had to believe Rumplestiltskin, Cora thought. However it wouldn't hurt to keep that girl away from her daughter for the next couple of months….

* * *

**Dum Dum duuuummm**

**Please leave me a review because they make me happy ****!**

**X**

**Metope**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

* * *

**Hey, are your parents home?**

_Nope, mother is at the office and daddy is out , y?_

**Good. Then I'm coming over.**

_No!_

**What? Y not?**

Snow waited for Regina to reply but her phone didn't buzz. Just as she decided to send another text Regina replied.

_Just don't. You can't come here._

Snow decided to just ignore that last text as she left the house and made her way over to Regina's. Word had spread quickly through town that the mayor's daughter was pregnant and the father was unknown. Together with Jefferson and Grace she had come to the conclusion that this child was most definitely the key to breaking the curse, and Rumplestiltskin had confirmed their theory. Snow had tried to talk to Daniel about it but quickly found out that he didn't want to discuss the matter. She had tried to reason with him, but she couldn't tell him he actually do was the father of course, which made talking rather difficult.

All of that was five months ago. Snow hadn't really seen Regina ever since. She had seen her a couple of times in the diner or in the supermarket but she had always been accompanied by Cora or her father. They hadn't let her see her, she had stopped by a couple of times in the beginning but they always found some excuse to not let her in until finally Snow got the hint. She had thought she could sneak in when her parents were gone but for a very long time Regina hadn't answered her phone, and the couple of times she did, there was always someone home keeping an eye on the brunette. Therefore there was no way Snow was letting this chance to see Regina go by. She was almost nine months along, that baby could come any day now and Snow needed to make sure everything would go right, as a matter fact she actually wanted to try to be there when Regina would give birth to prevent Cora from doing anything to the child.

When Snow rang the doorbell no one answered the door, after pressing the button a couple of times it was clear to the brunette that Regina wasn't planning on opening the door. Tree climbing and entering through the window it was..

* * *

Regina shrieked in shock when she suddenly saw the silhouette of a person standing on her balcony behind the curtains. Her first reaction was throwing the book she was reading towards the shadow.

"Ouch!" She heard a voice she immediately recognized as Snow's, and she saw she was right the moment the girl opened the curtains and entered her room.

"You can't be here. You have to go." Regina said panic slightly audible in her voice.

"Why? Your parents aren't home, you said it yourself."

"But they forbid me to see you, see anyone in general." Regina replied.

"And since when do you do everything your parents say? You didn't see a problem in sneaking around behind their back when you wanted to see Daniel." Snow countered as she went to sit on Regina's bed.

Regina went to sit in a chair and sighed. "I do what they say since all _this_ happened." She gestured at her very pregnant belly.

Snow nodded. "I see, you're very pregnant indeed girl. Baby can come any day now I guess?"

Regina just nodded and Snow saw how a small smile appeared on Regina's lips while she placed one hand on her belly.

"Do you feel good? Are you scared?" Snow asked in one breath.

Regina looked over to her and Snow noticed the fear in the young woman's eyes. "I feel fine." Regina started. "But I am scared as hell...I- I don't understand anything that has happened these past few months...My father...he says he loves me but in his eyes I see the disappointment, he doesn't really talk to me anymore. We used to be able to talk about nothing for hours, and we don't do that anymore...They don't let me go anywhere on my own, they are constantly there, this is an exception, there was some emergency at the office so my mother had to go..." Regina's voice was unsteady due to the tears she was trying to hold back.

"Hey, come here and let me give you a hug." Snow said softly and to her surprise Regina listened to her as she sat down next to Snow on the bed and let her wrap her arms around Regina. Regina let out a shaky breath and Snow felt a hot tear fall on her shoulder as Regina leaned her head against Snow's. "I don't understand how I can be pregnant...there was no one before Daniel...Mother says it is okay, that I shouldn't worry, but it's not alright, it's not alright at all." Regina whispered.

"I know.." Was all Snow said as she softly rubbed circles over the girl's back to comfort her. They were quite for a while.

"I am giving the baby up for adoption.." Regina said after a while in a small voice.

"What? Why? Why would you do that?" Snow asked shocked as she pulled away from Regina.

"Be-Because I can't take care of a child at this age, at this moment in my life. I'm barely an adult myself. I can't face that responsibility. I need to give the baby his best chance, which is not with me."

"Is that how _you_ feel, or how your mother feels, Regina?" Snow asked critically.

"I can't take care of the baby." She repeated.

"Answer the question Regina, is that what Cora thinks or what you think?"

Regina shook her head.

"Answer the question."

"Stop."

"No."

"Stop asking."

"No!"

"Stop it!"

"NO!"

"Why not! Why can't you leave me alone, why can't you leave me and my son alone!" Regina yelled as she stood up from the bed to face Snow.

Snow opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, "Your _son_? Did you ask to know the gender of the baby?" She then asked.

Regina shook her head. "No..no my mother said I shouldn't, it would only make me more attached to the chid. But I _know_ Mary. I know it's a boy, I can feel it." Regina said and she gently placed a hand on her belly in a protective way.

Snow shook her head. "But Regina, do you hear what you are saying here? You _feel_ it's a boy. You're way too attached to this child already to give it up. You love it already, I can see it in your eyes and on the smile on your face the moment you start talking about him. You can't give this baby up just because your _mother_ thinks you can't do this. It has to be because _you_ think the child has a better chance somewhere else than with you. You have to be a hundred per cent sure of that. If there is only the slightest doubt you mustn't do it, for you will regret it for the rest of your life. Believe me, Regina, you will."

Regina shook her head as tears fell down. "No. No I have to do this. I have to obey my parents. I brought them so much trouble already. If I would keep the baby it would automatically mean they will have to take care of it as well when I am at school, etcetera. I can't do this alone, they will have to help, and I don't want to do that to them. They didn't ask for this. Besides, I know nothing of parenting. It's better to give the child up for adoption. So he can live with a family that really loves him and can take care of him. Where he can have a mother _and_ a father."

"And what makes you think he can't have that with you Regina?"

Regina let out a sarcastic laugh. "Well Mary, I don't know if you paid attention to anything I said, but I haven't the slightest idea who the father of this child can possibly be!"

"Well but, Daniel..."Snow started.

"Daniel? Daniel?! I haven't seen Daniel since he brought me to the hospital. He is mad at me, he thinks I planned all of this. That I used him as a cover for who the child's father was. Don't expect anything from _Daniel_..." Regina ranted.

"Maybe you should talk to him..."

Regina shook her head, angry tears now leaving her eyes. "He made it very clear how he thought about me. That is over."

"No it's not. I'm sure that if you would go over to him now and try to talk to him he would listen. He was just upset back then. He had just heard that his girlfriend was pregnant...I'm sure he didn't mean what he said to you and that he regrets it."

"I can't leave the house." Regina sighed. "My parents..."

"...aren't here right now." Snow finished. "You should go there right now. I will drive you."

* * *

"Why did I let you talk me into this again?" Regina asked nervously when Snow parked the car at the stables.

"Because it's what you need to do." Snow replied confidently. "You two have to make things alright between you again."

Regina shook her head. "I don't know." She whispered.

Snow put a hand to Regina's leg. "Come one." She said in a reassuring voice. "I will be waiting for you right here in the car. It will be fine. Just do it."

Regina sighed. "Well here goes nothing." And she opened the car door.

"Daniel.." Regina started, she saw the man cleaning out the stables with his back towards her, he turned around at her voice, his eyes rested on her belly for a while before he met her eyes. Regina swallowed at the coldness she saw in the blue she once found so reassuring and warm.

"Miss Mills." He stated. "Can I help you with something."

"I came to talk." She said, averting her eyes.

"About what?"

"About us...about what happened."

"Well I think it is pretty _obvious_ what _happened_." Daniel spat back making a gesture towards Regina's belly.

"I didn't plan this you know. I didn't do this on purpose, although I know you think that's what I did." Regina replied, her voice slightly less gentle as she became annoyed by the way Daniel was talking to her.

Daniel now stopped working and fully turned around to face her. "O really, didn't you? You didn't know you were pregnant when you met me? You didn't lie about the fact that you'd never kissed someone before you kissed me? You didn't just use me for your own purpose? To clean up your mess?" His voice grew in anger.

"No. I didn't do any of that!" Regina spat back. "I spoke the truth when I said you were the first to kiss me!"

"Then how do you explain your very pregnant belly Regina?!"

"I don't know!"

"You don't know? How can you possibly don't know? Did he drug you before he knocked you up or something?"

Daniel gasped and touched his cheek with his hand on the place where Regina had just slapped him. "I don't know!" She yelled at him. "I do not know how I got pregnant. All I know is that my life was miserable and boring and nothing ever happened until I met you. And you were the one who gave me my first, you and no one else. There was just you, only you, and _no one_ I repeat _NO ONE_ before you! So you tell me how I got pregnant because I am at a total loss here. It freaks me out and it scares me so much, so I don't need you accusing me of being a whore and whatever! Because I don't deserve that!"

It was quite for a while apart from the horses making their usual noises, as Regina and Daniel stared intensely in each other's eyes.

She was speaking the truth, Daniel now saw, he saw it in her eyes. She really didn't know, she really hadn't done anything to hurt him on purpose. And he had just immediately assumed the worst, giving her no chance to explain.

He set a step in her direction and when she tried to back away he grabbed her arm, gently. "I am sorry Regina." He said in the most heartfelt way he could think of. A sob escaped her lips when she averted her eyes and tried to control her breathing again. "I'm sorry that I didn't believe you." Daniel continued. "I'm sorry I automatically assumed the worst before even listening to you. You didn't do any of the things I accused you of. I believe you. I'm so, so sorry. Can you forgive me Regina?"

He softly put his hand under her chin, lifting her head up so she had to look up at him, the tears and pain in her brown eyes hurt him like nothing else could. "I still love you, Regina..."He said softly. "I missed you so incredibly much..."

"I missed you too." She finally whispered, continuing to stare up at him. He smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Can I kiss you now?"

She let out a laugh. "I would very much like that yes." And so he softly closed the gap between them and pressed his lips against hers. How he had missed that, the feeling of her soft lips, the taste of apples with a faint hint of vanilla, he had missed it so much. She kissed him back ever so gently, parting her lips so he could deepen the kiss. Suddenly however she let out a groan of pain as she broke the kiss and set a few steps back, bending slightly forward, a hand on her belly as she hold on to him with the other.

"Regina? What's going on? Is everything okay?" He asked worried.

The brunette shook her head and looked up at him, eyes filled with fear.

"I think- I think my waters just broke." She stammered.

* * *

**Here you go! I will reread this chapter on spelling and grammar mistakes tomorrow morning, because the battery of my laptop is dying as I type this and I'm very tired too x")!**

**Please leave a review with your thoughts****!**

**x**

**Metope**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

* * *

Rumplestiltskin was practically running – cursing his foot for preventing him from actual running- as he made his way towards Cora's office. Snow had called him moments ago to tell him Regina's waters had broken while she was at the stables. She was now taking her and Daniel towards the hospital. The imp was smiling, everything was going according to plan, the only thing that now had to be taken care of was Cora. He had to keep her away from Regina long enough so that the girl could meet her child and brake the curse.

Just as he was about to open the door to Cora's office the woman herself already made the gesture for him. "Gold, I don't have time for you right now." She started as she tried to leave her office while Gold was preventing her from doing so by standing in the doorway. "I was just called by Mary that my daughter has gone into labour. It's time, I take it you have got all the forms ready?" She asked.

"Yes yes yes, the forms are ready." The imp smiled, _I found a perfect nonexistent family that has signed perfectly fake adoption paper_, he thought to himself. "But I'm afraid I can't let you go to the hospital." He said which earned him an arched eyebrow from the dark haired woman.

"O, and why is that?"

"You have to sign a couple of forms first, to complete the adoption." The man lied desperately hoping Cora would buy his story. Her lips formed a thin line but eventually she turned around and walked back into her office. "Fine, give me the papers and I will sign them. Then we can go."

"O, no then we can't go either." The imp said while he made his way into the office and quickly locked the door, holding the key that was always in the keyhole in his hand.

Cora gasped. "I beg your pardon, unlock that door this instant!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

"And _why_ is that? My daughter needs me, she is in labour, and I have to take the child away from her before she sees it. It will only become harder for her to let the child go once she's hold it in her arms, let alone the risk we're taking, the curse might even break already when she only sees the child."

She squinted her eyes when the man in front of her didn't react. "You _want_ the curse to be broken." She then said astonished. "Why?"

"I have my reasons dearie, point is, I'm not letting you near to the child. Not before Regina has hold her that is."

Cora sat down in her chair again. "Well, it won't matter." She then smirked. "My husband is on his way and he will take the child away from her instead."

"Oh but I can assure you, your husband will have some...difficulties, getting to the hospital. His car might have a flat tire or two.." The man smirked back, his grin growing even wider when he saw the anger on Cora's face.

"Well what am I supposed to do then!?" She yelled in anger. "It's not _just_ the child that makes me want to be there. I want to be there for my daughter as well!"

"You just sit down here and we wait until it _Snow_ calls us the job is done. Don't you worry about Regina, Snow is with her, and so is her _husband _the stable boy, your _son in law_." The imp enjoyed the disgusted face Cora showed at the mention of the stable boy.

"I will never forgive you for this." She snarled.

"O I know." The imp answered happily.

* * *

"Where are my parents! I need my mother!" Regina cried while she was squeezing Snow's hand and screaming and breathing her way through another contraction.

"I don't know Regina, I'm sure they can be here any minute." Snow lied, trying to calm her friend. They were in the hospital for a half hour now and the contractions were now following each other fast. "Regina, I really need to pee." Snow said when Regina seemed to relax just a little.

"You can't leave me alone." Regina panicked, her eyes wide with fear.

"I will send Daniel to sit with you until I'm back is that okay?"

The brunette shook her head. "No, I don't want him to see me like this."

"But Regina, I really need to pee. I'm very uncomfortable like this" Snow whined.

"Well I DON'T CARE. You know what is uncomfortable? Trying to push a giant child out of you THAT'S uncomfortable." Regina yelled and in that moment she looked so much like Cora that Snow didn't dare to protest anymore, instead she crossed her legs and wiggled on her chair while Regina breathed through yet another contraction.

When the worst had passed again Regina sighed as she looked over to Snow. "Fine." She growled. "Go to the bathroom and send Daniel in. I don't want my child to be born into a room where the first thing he smells is your pee because you couldn't hold it."

Snow smiled. "Thanks Regina, I'll be back as soon as I can. Hang in there, you're doing great." She pressed a kiss to Regina's cheek and quickly made her way out of the room. Daniel got up from his chair the moment he saw her. "How is it going?"

"Well, it won't be long anymore that's for sure." Snow said quickly. "You should get Dr. Whale and go to her. I have to go to the toilet and she doesn't want nor can stay alone there. Her parents still haven't arrived." Daniel looked a bit awkward at Snow's words.

"You sure she wants me in there? I mean...I'm a guy and all.."

Snow sent him a smile. "Just go in there and hold her hand." She said and then she quickly made her way to the bathroom.

.

When Daniel opened the door to Regina's room he immediately made his way over to the bed and grabbed her left hand as he saw how she was trying to deal with another contraction all by herself, her face contorted in pain.

"Daniel.."She breathed and he smiled at her when their eyes met.

"Dr. Whale is coming in a second." Was all he said, not really knowing what else to say.

"I'm scared." She whispered.

He gently brushed her hair out of her face and rubbed small circles with his thumb on the back of her hand. "It's going to be okay Regina. You're doing great. Everything will be fine."

"How can you be so s—aaah." Another contracting prevented her from speaking, at the same time Dr. Whale entered the room.

"Well this is it, Regina. It's time." He said but the brunette shook her head. "Noo." She cried. "My mother, I need my mother. Why isn't she here yet!"

"I don't know Regina. I'm very sorry, but we can't wait any longer, you have to start pushing now, your child is coming."

When Daniel saw Regina didn't respond he took her head in his hands and he sent the most reassuring smile he knew to give to her, trying to take away a little of the fear that was in those beautiful brown eyes. "Hey, you listen to me. You can do this. You're the greatest strongest woman I know, and you can do this. I'm here with you, you can squeeze my hand as tight as you want, I won't complain. And when it's over, you'll have a beautiful baby boy or girl. Think about that."

Regina smiled back at him. Daniel didn't know that she wasn't meant to keep the baby, but even though she did know that, his words meant a lot to her, and she felt a lot better now. "Ok." She whispered.

.

When Snow was about to enter Regina's room again she was met by the loud crying of a baby. She stopped walking and instead peeked through the window, what she saw made her smile. Regina was leaned against Daniel's chest, clearly exhausted, and in another corner of the room a nurse was wrapping a beautiful, by the sound of it healthy, baby boy in a blue blanket.

Quietly she entered the room. "You did it." She whispered to Regina who sent her a tired smile. "He's beautiful Regina." She added when she got a closer look to the child, the little boy had a dark down on his head and had baby blue eyes like all newborns have. The nurse now took the child in her arms and walked over to Regina. "Do you want to hold your son dear?" She asked and she looked confused when Regina shook her head and buried her face in Daniel's chest.

"No. I can't see him. It will only be harder to give him up." She sobbed.

"Give him up?" Daniel asked confused. "What do you mean Regina?"

"Regina, you have to listen to me. You cannot give this child up. You'll regret it forever. You already love this boy. The way you are reacting now proves it. You just have to ignore your mother, ignore everyone. Do what _you_ want to do, Regina! Don't let this boy grow up without his real mother when it's not necessary." Snow said, ignoring Daniel's question and confused looks.

Regina now moved away from Daniel so she could look at Snow. "It's easy for you to say Mary. A baby is not only fun and cute. It's hard, it's a constant lack of sleep, it's responsibilities it's..."

"Yes I know what it means, Regina. I'm not stupid. But it also means you get to experience joy, and love, and happiness. You _love_ this boy. That should be enough."

"I don't love him. I can't love him." Regina replied stubbornly.

Snow shook her head in disbelieve at the girl in front of her. "This is about you Regina, not about your mother, not about pleasing your mother!" Snow yelled in frustration and she walked over to the slightly astonished nurse taking the child from her. "Could you please leave us for a moment?" She asked the nurse. The woman nodded, understanding her presence was preventing them from talking freely.

As soon as she'd left Snow walked towards Regina with the boy. They locked eyes and stubborn brown eyes stared back at eyes just as stubborn. "This is what we're going to do Regina." Snow said, trying to control her anger and frustration. "You're going to hold this child, _your_ child in your arms. You're going to hold it, look at it, talk to it. And then, if you still can say you don't love him after that. Then I will back off, then I was probably wrong."

Regina now broke the eye contact with Snow and turned to face Daniel, the wide confused blue eyes didn't make her feel better at all, she just felt more guilty. "I don't know.." She said quietly.

"Snow is right, you know." Daniel said, having figured out what was going on. "You have to do what you want, what you think is best. Not what your mother thinks."

And in that moment it seemed as if all Mary and Daniel's words finally got through to her. It was her son Mary was holding in her arms there. Not her mother's, not Mary's, not anyone else's but hers. Her son. Her child. The child she had carried inside her for nine months and that had now finally seen the light. A child that deserved to have the best chance it could get...Was that with her? She didn't know. Snow was right, she had to hold her baby boy to be sure. She wouldn't be able to decide sooner. A sob escaped from her lips as she nodded and then turned back to Snow holding out her arms. The young woman smiled as she gently lied the squirming baby in his mother's arms. The moment mother and son were reunited the boy stupid fussing and a wide smile appeared on Regina's face.

"Hey baby boy." Regina said softly. "Welcome to this big world."

The boy gurgled and as he managed to free his little arm from the blanket he was wrapped in he managed to grab Regina's finger with his tiny hand, which made Regina smile even more. "You're a perfect little tiny human, you know that." A tear rolled down her cheek and she sighed.

"You're the most beautiful baby I've ever seen." She cooed. "You're _my_ beautiful baby." She then added, and Snow, who had been observing the two from a distance, had a hard time not doing a victory dance at those words.

Daniel smiled while his arms were still around Regina as she leaned against him, the baby in her arms. "He's most certainly a very handsome little guy." He remarked. "Yes..." Regina replied her voice trailing off as she was taken in by the tiny human being in her arms.

"Do you have a name for him? Or are you just going to continue calling him all positive superlatives there are in the world?" Daniel asked a little teasingly and Regina smiled.

"Well, I wasn't supposed to think of names or anything. But all those days alone in my room, being bored to death didn't really leave me anything else to do but to think of baby names and stuff like that."

"So you do have a name then?" Snow asked from the back of the room.

Regina smiled. "Yes, yes I do have a name..._Julian_, his name will be Julian."

"That's a wonderful name for your son, Regina." Daniel replied.

"My son...Julian...This is my son Julian." The brunette repeated, testing out the sound of it.

The nurse now entered the room again, she smiled when she saw how Regina now was holding her child and looked at the baby with loving eyes. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I've orders to take this little fellow with me to the baby room so his mother can rest. I need the two of you to leave as well."

Daniel and nodded in understanding as they both got up – Daniel gently helping Regina lean against her pillow again – and got to the door. The two of them lingered a little, not wanting to leave the perfect sight of mother and son just yet.

Regina smiled down to her son. "Bye my sweet little baby." She said softly and she gently lifted the child a little higher in her arms so she could reach his head with her lips.

"_I love you Julian." _She whispered right before softly kissing the top of his head.

* * *

Both adults got pulled out of their own thoughts by the sound of one of the most annoying ringtones in ringtone-history coming from the cell phone that was lying on the mayor's desk.

Cora moved over to see who was calling. "It's Snow." She said nervously once she read the word 'Mary' on the display. "Well go on, pick up!" She added when Gold didn't move.

The man was nervous though, once he'd picked up the phone he would know whether their plan had succeeded or not. He nor Cora would have noticed the curse being broken, they remembered already, so this call would be all or nothing.

Slowly he reached for the phone and pushed the answer button once he'd grabbed it. "Yes?" He said in a less steady voice than he had wanted, as he put the phone to his ear.

_"It has worked. The curse is broken."_ He heard an excited voice on the other side of the line.

* * *

**BAM! Well, I'm going to sleep now because I'm terribly tired but I just had to finish this chapter first before I allowed myself to go to bed xD! I'll reread tomorrow ****!**

**Please review and tell me what you want to see next. I could wrap this story up now in one or two more chapters or extend it with a couple of more chapters...**

**xx**

**Metope**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

* * *

With a big grin Rumpelstiltskin let the potion fall down into the well. The moment the glass broke on the wall and it's substance reached the water a purple cloud rose from the well. And when the purple fog engulfed him he could feel that familiar feeling, that tingling, that feeling of _power_. Now he would be able to start working on a way to break that border spell...

* * *

Cora was making her way to the hospital as fast as she could, trying to be as unseen as possible. Now everyone remembered she didn't doubt there would be a lot of people out for her head. Rumpelstiltskin had left her office the moment he ended his call with Snow, she hadn't really mind. She knew she should be worried about him but right now her first concern was her daughter, her second the fact that they didn't go back to the enchanted forest when the curse broke and her third that everyone probably wanted her dead. Rumpelstiltskin simply didn't fit in her worried head right now. She got pulled out of her thoughts by a loud voice shouting her name, when she turned around she saw Henry coming her way. She didn't know what to do, to be defensive or act normal so she just stood there waiting for him to reach her. "Henry." She then said in a neutral voice.

"You're on your way to the hospital?" Was all he asked, she nodded.

"Good, then let's go." And he continued walking towards the hospital, Cora having expected any question from the man but this factual one, followed him quickly.

"Henry.." She started. "I..." But she got cut off when he held his hand in the air as a sign he wanted her to be quiet.

"I don't want to hear it Cora. I am beyond angry with you, but I can also see that you aren't the same as before, the relationship between you and Regina is different here, and she loves you. And believe me, that's the only reason I'm letting you go to her now. Because she still loves you, even though she probably won't admit it. That, and the fact that there is no magic here." But just as Henry finished they turned around as both heard a low rumbling sound and saw a dark purple cloud coming their way.

"Well, guess I won't be without magic for long." Cora said, and she couldn't help but have a smile on her face. The cloud left just as quick as it had reached them and when Cora's sight was clear of purple again she saw how Henry was gazing at her warily, obviously waiting for her to use magic on him.

Cora shook her head. "There's no need for me to use magic now...not _yet_..that is. Now come, we need to get to our daughter."

When they reached the hospital the cloud had past their already, which was an advantage for Cora. Everyone knew magic was back now and no one dared to stand in her way as she entered the hospital and made her way to Regina's room with Henry in her wake, after rudely asking a terrified nurse where her daughter was.

When she reached the room she saw Snow standing outside, staring through the window with a smile on her face. Cora and Henry both followed her eyes and the moment they saw what Snow saw a smile appeared on both their faces as well.

* * *

_**Moments before**_

As soon as the white light had disappeared again and Snow saw the look of recognition on Regina and Daniel's face she knew the curse was broken. She made her way out of the room immediately so the two of them would have a moment in private and she could call Gold.

"Regina..." Daniel breathed as he looked into her brown eyes, those brown eyes that had seemed so familiar to his cursed self, and now he knew why: they belonged to his wife.

A smile of happiness appeared on Regina's face as she laughed through her tears, this being the best response she could give Daniel in that moment. And she was all too happy when he walked back over to the bed, went to sit next to her and then took her in his arms. Happily she leaned into him and let even more tears fall, all the stress and fear and frustration and confusion leaving her body, making place for relieve and happiness and love instead, as she sat there with her husband and her son.

"Careful." She said when Daniel pulled her even tighter. "You're crushing _our_ son." Stretching the word _our_ a bit, to emphasize that after all the confusion Julian turned out to be Daniel's son indeed.

Daniel pulled away a little as he now looked with new eyes at the tiny baby that was quietly staring up into the world in his wife's arms. "Our son..." He whispered. "We have a son..." And then he looked back up to Regina again. "You gave me a son, you are...you are amazing you know that. I...I promise I'll never _ever_ leave you again. I love you so much, Regina."

And before Regina could reply he took her face in his hands and softly pressed his lips against hers, quickly deepening the kiss the moment he savoured the sweet mix of apples and vanilla that was her lips. They kissed until a need of air forced them to part and Regina softly caressed his face when she saw a tear falling down her husband's face.

"I love you too Daniel." She whispered softly. "I love you so very much. And now we're together again. We're a family." She smiled and Daniel returned it as he pulled her closer to him. They stayed like that for a while, Daniel with his arms around Regina as his left arm softly rubbed her upper arm in a loving way, while the young parents both were looking at their beautiful newly born son who was staring up at them with his big baby-blue-eyes.

"He looks like you." Regina said softly. "Just as handsome as his father is."

Daniel smiled. "Well I can see he has a lot of his mother in him too. He's a perfect combination of the two of us." Regina nodded in agreement and they both fell quite again as they continued to watch their little wonder.

They got pulled out of their thoughts when they saw through the hospital window how a dark purple cloud was engulfing the town. "Magic." Regina gasped, and Daniel hold his wife and son closer to him as the room darkened when the cloud reached the hospital. Loud panicked voices where now coming from the hallway. Julian started to cry and Regina softly rocked the baby in her arms to calm him down. It was only when the cloud had passed and light returned that the child stopped crying and looked up with a content face to his parents again, his face still a little red from the previous effort.

"There, there. Such a big boy already." Regina cooed to her son. Daniels heart swelled with love as he saw Regina mother over her son and he pressed a kiss to her temple. "You're going to be the best mother Julian can wish for."

Regina smiled. "You're very lucky Julian." She spoke to the child. "You have the best father in the world who loves you a great deal, and a mother who loves you just as much. You're our precious son."

Both adults grew quite again as they stared mesmerized at the tiny life in front of them. The boy was wiggling a little in the blanket and gurgling cute baby sounds.

However their perfect family moment was interrupted once again when they heard loud angry voices coming from the hallway. When they looked up they saw Mary – or Snow, it now probably was – talking angrily to two people which Regina quickly recognized as her parents.

A gasp left her mouth. "She's coming here to ruin everything." Regina said in a scared voice. "She did all of this! Here, take Julian." and she moved her son to Daniel who took his son in his arms. "You have to go, take him, make sure you two are save. We can't let my mother get to him."

Daniel shook his head. He smoothly shifted Julian to lie in only his right arm so he could use his other to calm Regina down. "Regina, don't panic. Try to stay calm okay? I'm not letting anything happen to either one of you. I'm going to effectively protect my family this time."

Regina shook her head. "After all that she's done...don't you know yet that we can't defeat her? She's too powerful, and now magic is back..."

"Regina listen. I..." But Daniel didn't get to say anything else as Cora – who had managed to move past Snow – now opened the door and entered the room followed by Henry.

"Regina.." She started in a happy voice, but she too didn't get to finish what she wanted to say.

"Stay away! Stay away from me, stay away from my husband and above all stay away from my child!" Regina yelled, and although fear was audible in her voice there was also a threatening undertone that made Cora stop entering the room any further.

"Regina." She started again, a sad smile on her lips. "I'm not here to hurt you. I promise. I'm sorry I couldn't be here for you sooner. Rumpelstiltskin was preventing me and your father from coming here. I – We have a grandson now I take it judging by the blue blanket?"

"_You_ have nothing." Regina spat back as she sat up more straight. "You just need to get out of here."

Cora shook her head. "No, don't say that. I'm...I don't want to hurt anyone..."

"That doesn't matter, _Cora_." Cora winced as her daughter called her by her name instead of calling her mother. "You've hurt so many people so badly..."

"But I'm your mother..you need me.." Cora said in a pleading voice. The other people present in the room – being Daniel, Julian, Henry and now Snow too who had entered the room after Henry and Cora – didn't dare to say anything as they observed how harsh Regina was speaking to her mother who acted so different from the cold cruel woman they all knew.

Regina shook her head. "No, you're wrong there. What I need is a _mother_, someone who loves me. You are neither of that. I don't need _you_ anymore. I've lived without a mother long enough. And someone who loves me I have found in Daniel."

At the mention of the stable boy who was still sitting behind Regina on the bed with his son on one arm and the other around Regina, Cora's eyes darkened. "The stable boy..." She growled.

"My _husband_." Regina corrected the witch.

Cora shook her head. "It's all his fault." She hissed. "From the moment you met _him_ things started to go downwards. He drove you away from me."

"No mother, you did that yourself! Using magic on me, lying to me, forcing me into marrying a man thrice my age! _You_ drove me away, there's no one to blame for that but you! And I want you to leave now because you're upsetting _my_ _son_ and I'm too tired for this right now!"

Cora silently gazed at the blue bundle that had started to move in Daniel's arms as the soft sounds of an annoyed infant filled the room. "No.." She finally said in a low voice. "You can't make me."

Before Regina or anyone else could say something at that statement Dr. Whale now too entered the hospital room followed by a number of townspeople. "There she is." He growled. "You're done here witch. You've lost!" He said as he pinned Cora against the wall.

"Whale what are you doing!" Snow exclaimed as she and Henry got roughly pushed aside when the angry mob entered the room. Julian started to cry at the sudden commotion and Daniel rocked the infant in his arms to calm him down as he demanded to know what was going on. "Whale what is this! What are you doing, you're scaring my child and wife! This is not the place for this!"

"Don't worry, Daniel." Whale said in an angry voice. "We'll take this outside." And he started to pull Cora with him towards the door. However the witch managed to shrug him off.

"Who in the hell do you think you are." She hissed. "Don't you know who I am? What I can do? Magic is back you fools! I will destroy all of you with a flick of my wrist." And as she said this she slowly raised her arms only to stretch them out in front of her in a swift move to send a spell towards the mob. The people all dug in fear of what was about to come, Regina and Snow both gasping in shock, Henry quickly walking over to his daughter and Daniel pressing his son to his chest to protect him.

However they all soon noticed something was wrong when nothing happened and Cora stared in confusion to her hands. "Magic is different here.." She whispered more to herself than to anyone present.

"Now look who is laughing." Whale said with an evil grin as he once again grabbed Cora's arm and started dragging her towards the door. Cora turned around to face Regina who was watching her with scared eyes. "Regina, you have to believe me..no matter what you think, no matter what they say, I _do_ love you!"

But Regina just shook her head as she saw how Whale took her mother away, and she buried her face in her father's chest as she heard Cora yell in anger to Whale and the townspeople to release her at once.

This was best, she told herself. Cora was evil, she had done evil things, she had cast the curse, she was to be punished. But one she looked up again and into Snow eyes, she immediately knew it wasn't alright at all.

"Snow.." She said in a hoarse voice. "_Thank_ you for everything. I'm so sorry for everything my mother has done to you and your family, and all because of me."

Snow shook her head. "It's okay Regina. It's not your fault. None of it is. You're not bad."

Regina shook her head. "You say that so easily. Yet I'm the daughter of the woman who cursed us all and even though I hate her for what she has done and despite what I just said to her..."

"...she's still your mother, and you love her, and you're worried about what Whale and the other are planning on doing to her." Snow finished for her, and Regina smiled a sad smile as she nodded.

"Don't worry, Regina. I will take care of it." Snow said determined. "I will make sure they won't hurt Cora."

"Thank you Snow." Regina said gratefully. "Don't let them kill her...just...just let them lock her up."

Snow nodded in understanding and she quickly turned around to leave the room. As soon as Snow had left Regina leaned back in the cushions and she closed her eyes in exhaustion. A nurse entered the room. "Ok, despite all the total craziness that just happened I do need to ask the two of you to leave." She said to Daniel and Henry.

"Miss Mills needs to feed her son and after that they both need to sleep. It has been a long day. You can come back to visit her in the morning Mr. Mills. As for you.." She pointed at Daniel. "You can stay of course, I can imagine you two want to be together for now. I'll close an eye to that. After all, if it weren't for you and your son we would all still be cursed." The woman winked.

* * *

**People I need a last name for Daniel (and consequently for Regina and Julian as well) and I don't want it to be Stableman or Hay because..just no...soooo any suggestions :D?**

**Also I found this chapter very hard to write so please review to let me know how I did O:)**

**x**

**Metope**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Stop! Stop!" Snow yelled as soon as she saw Whale pinning Cora against the wall of the hospital building, two hands at her throat.

The doctor sent Snow an evil glare in response. "Tell me, why would I stop? She has to take responsibility for her actions, she cursed us all!"

"But killing her won't make anything better." Snow countered. "Just lock her up, don't kill her. It will just make you as bad and evil as she is." The mob started buzzing; indicating Snow words hit a nerve.

But Whale shook his head. "Not good enough. It's because of her that I'm separated from my brother, I want her to die so she really pays for her deeds, and who are you to tell me what to do or not do?"

Snow huffed. "I am princess Snow White, and since I am legally an adult now, I am in fact your _queen_." She stretched the last word as to emphasize is. The mob started buzzing again but Whale just laughed, unimpressed.

"You may be _their_ queen, but you're most certainly not mine. Now where were we…" He then said turning back to face Cora who had observed the entire conversation with the greatest interest.

"I believe you were trying to choke me, dear." Cora said with a smirk that only made the doctor even angrier, just what she wanted.

However just as Whale wanted to continue he was once again interrupted by someone telling him to stop. When he turned around again he saw that this time it was the Mad Hatter who made his way through the mob. The first thing the man did was walking over to Snow and asking the girl if she was alright, when the brunette nodded he switched his attention to Whale.

"Whale, I think it's best if the sheriff takes it from here don't you think?" and Jefferson gestured at Albert Spencer , no, King George, who was standing next to the hatter.

Whale shook his head once again. "I don't live by the rules of your land nor this, I do what _I _want."

"No you won't." Jefferson now said more firmly as he placed a hand on Whale's arm as to pull him away from Cora's throat.

"And why is that?" The doctor dared to ask.

"Because Regina, who is partly responsible for the breaking of the curse, doesn't want her _mother_ to be killed." Snow now piped up.

"You owe it to the girl to respect that wish, Whale. Let Albert take this witch with him and lock her up. She doesn't have magic so the cell will be able to hold her long enough so that we can think of a fitting punishment." Jefferson said.

Whale nodded slowly and moved his hands away from Cora's throat and stepped away from her. "Alright, she's all yours then." He said and Albert immediately stepped forward to handcuff Cora and take her to the station. They expected Cora to object, but the woman didn't do any of the sort, one would almost say she underwent everything willingly. In fact Cora was too stunned over everything that was happening to react.

The pain of Regina's harsh words in the hospital was still fresh and that had made Snow's words about how Regina didn't want her to be killed even more shocking and confusing to the woman. Maybe it meant Regina was still willing to give her a chance, and if that was so, Cora was willing to do everything necessary to take that chance. She would change for Regina, she would redeem herself so she could have her daughter back.

Whale stared at how Cora was led into the police car by Albert and how the angry mob slowly dissolved as people started to go home. Snow and Jefferson decided to go to the town hall to help people out with finding their families back and so Whale was left standing alone in front of the hospital. And as soon as he saw the sheriff's car drive away he knew he had made a mistake. He shouldn't have listened to that spoiled little princess and the hatter, they were crazy, the hatter wasn't called mad for nothing. They would never punish her enough for what she had done. They would probably ban her to live alone somewhere else or take her job as mayor away from her. No, he should have killed the witch when he had had the chance. An evil smile appeared on the doctor's face when he realized he still had the possibility to do so, maybe he could even inflict more pain on Cora. He hadn't missed the short flicker of hope that had crossed the witch's face when Snow had said Regina didn't want her to be killed. The woman loved her daughter, she really did, which meant she had a weakness….love was always weakness…

* * *

Meanwhile in the hospital, Regina and Daniel were completely oblivious to everything that was happening right outside the building they were in. The new parents had only eyes for their son, who was now soundly sleeping in Regina's arms. The nurse had wanted to take him to the baby room already but Regina had managed to get the nurse to give in to a few more minutes with her son.

"He's so tiny." Regina sighed.

"He's perfect." Daniel said in response. "Just like you." And he pressed a kiss to her temple.

Regina smiled. "It all feels so surreal. This morning I woke up as Regina Mills, who had somehow got herself pregnant without her knowledge and lived with her parents. And now I have all these memory flooding back to me about our lives before the curse. How I am in fact Regina Kent, married to Daniel for over a year – for six years already if you think about it -, and who just gave birth to their beautiful son. That sounds just crazy, doesn't it?"

Daniel smiled as Regina looked up at him with brown eyes and a slight frown and he nodded. "If you would tell this to anyone outside of Storybrooke they would lock you up in a mental hospital, yes." He teased. "But you are right, it all feels very confusing. It's like having two identities at once."

Regina nodded in agreement.

"However, " Daniel continued. "Even our cursed selves found each other. So for me that is proof that we belong together. And from now on I will always try to protect you, no matter what."

Regina felt her heart melt at Daniel's words, seeing that he meant every bit of it. "I love you." She sighed as she softly pressed her lips against his for a short kiss.

"I love you too my dearest wife." Daniel smiled and he tightened his arms around Regina, pulling her a little bit more into him. Regina wanted to say something back to Daniel, but instead a yawn left her lips.

"Sounds to me as if it's time that I bring our son to the baby room and let you sleep for a little bit."

"No, that's – that's.. – " another yawn. "Not necessary, I want you two to stay here with me." Regina protested.

Daniel laughed. "I'm sorry dear, but you really have to rest a little." Daniel said seriously as he took his sleeping son out of her arms. "I'll be right back." He promised as he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I will hold you to that." Regina said as she watched her husband leave the room with her son in his arms. When she closed her eyes she felt that she was tired indeed, a little sleep like Daniel had suggested wouldn't hurt.

* * *

Just as she started to drift of she heard the door to her room open again, expecting it to be Daniel she opened her eyes but saw Doctor Whale standing in her room instead. She frowned, not having forgotten about how aggressively he had attacked her mother earlier that day. "Whale, "she said, "did you come to check up on me, or is there something else?"

The man said nothing as he walked over to her and pulled the sheets away from her and grabbed her arm. "You come with me." Was all he said as he pulled her up and out of bed.

Regina tried to protest but she was too tired and still too weak to manage herself to break free from his grasp. Instead she fell out of bed, her knees painfully crashing to the ground. She whimpered but Whale pulled her up immediately. "Come on." Was all he said and he started to pull her with him out of the room.

Regina tried to hold on to the doorway with her free hand but the man was simply too strong as he dragged her along with him. The central hall of the hospital was empty, not even a nurse was present, Whale dragged her to the opposite side of the hall and held still in front of a large door. Next to the door was a key pad, the doctor entered a four numbered code and after a beep and a green light that flicked on, the door opened. When Whale tried to push her inside Regina tried to struggle against the men again. "Daniel!" She screamed in panic. "Help me!" But with a strong push against her back she was forced to let go of the doorway and was pushed inside of the room by Whale, who followed her and let the door fall shut behind him.

The room they were now in was dark safe for an occasional lamp on the wall that provided a dim light, just enough for Regina to make out the shape of stairs in front of her. Whale started to lead her down the stairs. "What are you doing. Let go of me!" Regina said angrily as she once again tried to pull herself free from his grasp – without any luck. "Why are you doing this?" She asked when the doctor didn't respond. They had now reached the bottom of the stairs and Regina saw they were standing at the beginning of a long hall with doors, just as large and heavy as the one they had just gotten through, on both sides.

Whale started to walk to one of the doors on the left and he pushed Regina inside of the small dark room that was behind the door. "_You_ " He finally spoke. "are going to stay here. Where no one will find you, or can see you, or will hear you."

"But why? What did I do to you!" Regina said angrily tears now running down her face as she was no longer able to control the fear that she was feeling.

"You did nothing, it's your mother I want to punish. She loves you, you know, I'm getting back to her through you. I want to kill her. I'll _force_ her into agreeing to an execution when she sees what I did to her beloved daughter."

Regina shook her head in shock. "You're crazy." She breathed and when she just received an evil smirk from the man she changed tactics. "Please let me out. " She begged. "My son..I have a son now, you know that, you helped delivering him! He needs me!" For a moment she thought she was getting through to the man but then he shook his head.

"No." He said firmly. "You can get out of here when Cora has paid for her deeds. Only then…that is….if I feel like it of course….enjoy your stay, I hope for you that your mother will give in quickly." And with that he closed the door behind him, ignoring Regina's desperate cries as he made his way back up stairs.

* * *

**Dum dum duuuummmm don't hate me, please don't hate me :D? Everything will be alright :D…eventually…I think I will need three or four more chapters for this story to end ^^.**

**Well tell me what you think!**

**X**

**Metope**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N I know all of you will think: wth I already read this chapter, but WAIT. PrudenceKimberley was as kind as to point out to me that the way this chapter was before this update was total crap, with giant plot holes everywhere. We could say that my judgement was 'slightly' clouded by the flu I'm still suffering from – yay for that _. However, I changed the first part of this chapter now, so it makes more sense (or so I hope) ****!**

**Chapter 16**

**One week later**

"They still haven't decided what they are going to do with you I see?" Gold asked smirking when he entered the sheriff's station and saw Cora sitting on the bed that was in her cell. The woman chose to ignore the remark and instead asked what she wanted to know, and of which she knew Gold was here to give her the answer to:

"Did you find her already?" At the shaking of the imp's head Cora let out a frustrated sigh. "Where can she have gone? You're not really looking for her! She can't simply have disappeared , now can she?"

The imp was suddenly a lot closer to the cell as he grabbed the bars of the cell in both hands and pressed his head against them so that his head was close to Cora's. "You listen to me dearie. I do not think you're in a place right now to accuse me of _anything_ at all. Maybe, if you would just give in to what the doctor has asked of you, she would have been found already."

Cora shook her head. "I'm not going to give in to the demands of a stupid doctor!"

"Well then suit yourself dearie, I guess you haven't really changed then after all, if you are willing to choose your own life above your daughter's?"

Cora shook her head. "No you don't understand. My daughter needs me. I know she does, she was willing to give me another chance, it will hurt her _too_ if I die. Don't you see? Regina will suffer either way! The only way is to find her! Besides, we don't even know if the doctor really has her somewhere where she'll die! He could be lying for heaven's sake!"

"Well then let me tell you this dearie. I haven't quite found her _yet_, but it's not that I don't know where she _is_."

When Cora opened her mouth again to ask her next question the man held up his hand as to silence her. "I've searched for her in the entire town with my magic, where I couldn't look, because my magic was being blocked, is the hospital. Which leads to the conclusion that she'll be probably held captive there."

Cora huffed. "That's ridiculous. You are the dark one, no magic is too strong for yours."

The man grinned. "Oh I didn't say I couldn't break the spell. I just don't want to. I don't know how that doctor managed to put a spell on the hospital, but he did. And the moment I'll break that spell he'll know. And as we don't know _where _in the hospital Regina's been held captive, breaking the spell at this point, without a plan, is a risk I'm not willing to take."

"Then why don't you just let Snow, or Daniel for my part, search through the hospital? They can still enter the hospital without magic can't they? The hospital is still up and running."

"Yes, and Whale is still chief of the hospital – Arresting him is another risk we don't want to take, or actually a risk, Snow and Daniel don't want to take as Whale has threatened that Regina will be harmed if we do anything to him."

"...And as you still don't know where and how he's holding her captive, you don't know whether he's bluffing by saying that or not." Cora realised.

"Exactly dearie. If it were up to me I would have dealed with that doctor long before already, but since I have to play by the rules of team good here I can't do that. However, we did infiltrate the hospital already and it's about a hundred per cent sure that Regina is not in any of the rooms or offices, or wings of the hospital that are known to us."

"And now? What is your new plan?"

"Our new plan is to try to figure out who helped Whale placing the magic barrier on the hospital. I have my ideas, but we have to be sure."

"It reeks to fairy magic to me by the sound of it." Cora said shortly, but the imp shook his head.

"No, it's no fairy magic. It's dark magic, and that's something fairies stay away from as far as they can. No..it's almost as if Whale cast the spell himself..."

"Me? Casting a spell. Well aren't you a funny man. _Science_ my friend, is what I occupy myself with." The two sorcerers suddenly heard and they saw said Doctor entering the sheriff's office. Before the two of them could say something the doctor continued.

"This is taking too much of my time, witch. I was already wondering why you hadn't given in yet to my demand to accept your death, but now I know, the imp is _helping _you. Well let me tell you. You won't be able to find her, _dearie_." The man imitated Gold's voice. "As I said before, the moment you'll use any magic on me or try to break that spell I will know, and I will make sure your daughter won't be found. The place I am holding her in is protected not only by magic, but also by the most complicated scientific mechanisms. So even if you did make your way past the spell, you won't be able to get to her. Science will always prevail, after all."

"Well then it couldn't hurt to tell us where you're keeping my daughter either, would it?" Cora spat, anger flaring in her eyes at the sight of the arrogant smirk on the man's face.

"Oh, but that's exactly what I am about to do, _mayor_ Mills. I think the sight of the state your daughter is in will make you change your mind." Cora swallowed visibly at the words of the man. She inwardly cursed herself once more for not being able to use magic. She felt vulnerable and broken. Two things she hadn't felt in a long time. Rumpel and the Doctor were wrong, she _was_ changing, she _had_ changed and she was going to safe her daughter. She wouldn't leave Regina this time.

The doctor walked over to the computer that was standing on the sheriff's desk and after some clicking he turned the screen so it was faced to Cora and Rumpelstiltskin. With one last click the screen changed from the wallpaper to a dark screen. But on a closer look the two adults realised they were looking at a small dark cell. There was hardly any light shining into the room, just enough however for them to see a small bed standing on the right of the room and on that bed was lying a curled up Regina. When the doctor saw the shocked faces of the two powerful sorcerers he commanded the camera to zoom in a little more so they were now better able to see the young woman.

"These are live registrations of the place Regina's locked up in, in this very moment." The doctor said with a smirk. "As you can see, she has been better..." And all Cora could do was stare at the sight of her daughter, she wanted to look away, but she couldn't, as if her eyes were glued to the computer. Regina was lying on the bed, her hands clutched around her stomach and she was slightly shivering. Even with the little light there was she could see her daughter was deadly pale, and needed help very quickly.

"Please let her out of there. She didn't do anything wrong." Cora begged, she begged? Yes, she was begging, and she didn't care. This was about her daughter, not about her.

Before Whale could reply, however, he found himself pinned against the wall by an invisible hand, a magical hand, in fact, that was Gold's doing. "You leave that girl out of there right now." The man growled. Don't understand the imp wrong, he wasn't suddenly fighting for team good, he just needed the girl to help him break the border spell. He knew Regina had magic, and now Cora didn't seem to have access to her magic, he needed her daughter for the job.

But the blonde doctor smirked. "If you kill me, you'll never be able to find her." He choked out, and as Gold realised the doctor was right he released his grip on the doctor and set a step back in response.

"It's up to you Cora." Whale said. "You either agree with a quick death, or you'll never see your daughter again...oh wait...that will be the case either way. Let me rephrase that, or your daughter will _die_." He grinned evilly.

Cora slowly nodded. "Alright." She said. "I will agree with you. You can kill me, but you have to promise me to let my daughter go, _unharmed_."

"But of course."

"You have to promise by making a deal with Rumpelstiltskin. That way I'll know you'll keep to your promise once I'm...gone..."

Whale smirked. "Whatever, you want..." He didn't care what would happen to the girl, the important thing was that he was getting his revenge...

**A Very short chapter, I'm sorry ****. The thing is, I've been down with the flu since Thursday. Was it still a very bad cold then, it's pretty bad now. That's because I've spend five hours outside yesterday waiting for the Dutch King and Queen to visit my town, so I could give them the portrait I had made of the Queen. I was able to give it to them and I shook both their hands and they loved my drawing so I was just...star struck and out of my mind or something for the next couple of hours. But now my cold has worsened and I'm sick xD. However I did want to update, and since I'd already this I decided to put this up already ****.**

**Enjoy, because due to this flu I'm not sure when I'll be able to update again x').**

**O by the way, if you want to see the portrait of the Dutch Queen that I´ve drawn, you can find it on my Facebook page. Just type in the regular facebook url and then add: DiejjArts after the backslash ****!**

**Reviews make me happy (and maybe they'll even make me beter) so even though this is a short chapter leave one behind :D? (I also have some inspirational problems with this story so any ideas are welcome ^^)**

**x**

**Metope**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

It was hard to open her eyes, the dried up tears and the puffiness preventing her eyelids from fully parting. She was hurting. Her stomach hurt, her back hurt, her head hurt, her neck hurt, her throat hurt from all her cries for help and her breasts hurt because they were full with milk she should feed her baby with...her baby, who was now without his mother. Sure he had Daniel, but Daniel wasn't his mother...A tear fell when she thought about this.

She got pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the small slide of the small window in the door being opened and when she looked up she saw a pair of blue eyes staring at her. She didn't reply. She knew what this meant. He had said he'd only come for her once her mother had given in to his requests. More tears fell.

"I guess you know why I'm here?" She heard his voice ask, but she didn't reply.

"Oh, you're giving me the silent treatment. How brave of you. Well, I just came to tell you your mother has finally agreed to my proposal. You'll be free by the end of the day."

She shook her head in frustration as tears kept on falling, quicker and quicker. "You won't get away with this." She whispered, her voice hoarse because she had only used it to scream occasionally hoping that someone would hear her.

"What was that?"

She now looked him in the eyes and she could see that he was slightly shocked by her sudden anger. She was so angry, in that moment she really felt nothing but anger course through her body. "I said, " She repeated in a loud voice. "That you won't get away with this!"

The doctor smirked in response. "And who's going to stop me, that stable boy of yours? Please. He couldn't even hurt a fly. He trusted and believed me fully when I told him I had no idea where you had gone. It took them two days already to find out that I am responsible for your disappearance. I hate to break it to you, but your handsome stable boy is no match to me."

Regina shook her head in anger. "Shut up." She roared.

But it only encouraged the blonde doctor to continue. "I'm sorry, girl. The truth can be painful sometimes. It's a shame you have given birth to a son. Now you'll have to worry that he'll become as much of a failure as his father is. Such a sha–" The doctor wasn't able to continue as he was suddenly pressed against the wall of the hallway by an invisible force.

When he got back up to his feet he saw a pair of brown eyes staring back at him through the window in the door, hatred clearly visible in them. Yes, those eyes most definitely held hatred, hatred and swirls of purple too. The blue eyes of the doctor widened. "You have magic too!" He breathed. "You did this to me! That changes everything! You're just like her!" He exclaimed, the sudden raising of his voice pulling Regina out of the state of anger she had been in.

Confused she let herself fall back on her bed, but when she remembered what had got her so angry she got back up again and walked towards the door. "I'm _not_ like my mother." She growled. "However, if you _ever_ talk that way about my husband or son again, the differences between me and her might become hard to tell indeed."

The doctor shook his head. "There's no way I'm letting you out now. Deal or no deal, I will never release you. And they will never be able to free you either. The lock..it can't be opened by magic. You'll be stuck here until I've decided what to do with you."

"No!" Regina now screamed. "You said you would let me go! You promised!"

"That was before I knew about what you are." The doctor growled. "Now please excuse me, I have an execution to go to." And with that he closed the window, leaving Regina alone in the dark room once more.

With a cry of frustration the young woman let herself slump down into the bed. She was so confused, she didn't know what to do. She had to get out of here, not only for her son and for Daniel, but also for Cora – her mother. She hadn't forgiven her mother for casting the curse and keeping her and Daniel apart, but at the same time she had. Because during the curse, Cora had been a different mother to Regina than she had been the last years in the enchanted forest.

Here, Cora had been how she was before the incident, how she was before Regina had met Daniel. Cora had been a mother to her again. She had proved to Regina that she could be the person Regina wanted her to be, so didn't that make her deserve a second chance?

However...it was too late for that now, Regina thought. Whale was on his way to her mother already. And if Snow and Gold and the rest hadn't been able to stop him by now, then it wasn't likely they ever would. With a sigh she brushed a strand of hair out of her face, and as she did a plan started to be created in her head as she stared at her hands.

She had used magic on Whale. She hadn't meant to do it, but it just happened. Just like when her mother had tried to rip out Daniel's heart. She had felt such despair back then, and had felt such anger just now that it had just happened. As if her magic was fuelled by...emotion? Could it be?

Maybe she could magic herself out of this place then? She closed her eyes and started to think really hard about being outside the hospital. However when she opened her eyes again after several minutes she was still met by the walls of her dark prison. She huffed in annoyance. Again. This time she didn't just think about being out of this room, she also thought about _why_ she wanted that. She thought about her mother making her chocolate pancakes that time when she had been so tired after Snow's sleep over. She thought about how Daniel had been so patient with her, trying to get rid of her curse induced fear of horses. She thought about that utter moment of happiness she had felt when she finally got to hold her baby in her arms. And as she felt herself being filled with happiness, and sadness at the same time she also felt that weird sensation coursing through her body that she had only felt two times before. When she opened her eyes she wasn't outside the hospital, however she wasn't inside her room anymore either. When she got up from the floor she was now lying on she found out she had managed to magic herself to the other side of the door of her room; she was now standing in the hallway of the basement.

Supporting herself by the wall she started to make her way over to where she knew the door out of here should be. She shivered as she was walking in only a night gown, her bare feet touching the cold concrete floor. When she finally reached the stairs that led up to the door and had managed to climb them she found out that a complicated looking system was locking the door. She put her hand on it and tried to open it while trying to access her magic. It didn't take her as long as last time to feel that odd sensation that she now knew was magic to run through her body, however the door stayed locked and the system unchanged.

She frowned, but then remembered how Whale had said this lock could not be opened through magic. Figures, she thought, this man is all about science, science and magic don't go well together. Upon taking a closer look to the system she saw it simply was a lock that would be opened by a four numbered code. The thing was, what was this code?

Already exhausted by using magic twice in such a short time and being sick anyways Regina let herself slump down against the wall and rested her head against the cold concrete. How would she ever find out what the code was? It would probably be something close to him, the problem was, she didn't really _know_ anything about Whale. Except for the fact that he's a doctor...and his name is Whale...

Whale...he was a doctor and his name was Whale, she repeated to herself. Somewhere in the back of her mind that rang a bell...what was it? And wasn't his first name Victor? And then suddenly she knew! She remembered that somewhere over the last year she had had to read Frankenstein as a school assignment, about a Doctor who created a monster, a _doctor_ called _Victor_. It was a novel written by Mary Shelley. After reading the book she had had to watch the movie, directed by James _Whale_. That had to be it! Doctor Whale was from the story of Frankenstein!

The brunette let out a triumphant laugh at her discovery, instantly regretting this when she felt her throat stinging and her head spinning by the adrenaline that had been released, causing her to be more excited than her body could handle.

Now the question was, if she were to be Doctor Frankenstein, and she had to choose a four numbered code, what would she choose? Maybe his date of birth? However, she didn't know that one, so she hoped that wouldn't be it. The date he created the monster? But she didn't know that date either. Maybe...the year the novel appeared in this world? _That_ date she knew, it was an easy one. Oh, she hoped that would be it, she truly couldn't think of another code, apart from the release date of the movie maybe. But first she would try the year the novel was written.

Slowly she got back up to her feet, heavily leaning against the wall. She felt as if she had no strength in her body left whatsoever. "Well, here goes nothing." She spoke softly to herself as she raised her hand to push the right buttons. One, eight, one, eight. With every button she pressed she heard a high beeping sound, and after the last button a little green lamp started to shine and to her great delight she heard the system unlock itself and the door opened in front of her. With great strength she managed to push the door further open and then walked through it.

She immediately shielded her eyes from the daylight as soon as she had made it out of the basement. She had been in the basement for so long that she wasn't used to it anymore. Slowly it became possible for her to actually see something again, and when she dared to remove her hands from her eyes without being blinded by the light, she saw she was standing in an empty hospital. Fear took over her body. They were probably all watching the execution of her mother. She had to get there...fast.

However, with the next step she set she fell down to the ground, hard. She simply was too weak, a week with barely any food or water after giving birth turned out to be not good for one's health. "Come on, Regina. Don't give in now." She said to herself as she tried to press herself up again. She failed. She couldn't do it.

"Okay. Suit yourself. You've used magic twice today already, what's a third then if it's for a good cause." She reasoned with herself. "You'll just have to figure out where they will have her executed." However she knew where that would be. If she were Whale she would want to have Cora executed in a place that was not only big enough to hold many people, but would also be adding to the already present humiliation of Cora, she would have her executed in front of the mayoral mansion.

"Ok, so back home it is." She said to herself, and when she closed her eyes she felt the magic coursing through her body once more, hopefully taking her to the place where she had to safe her mother.

**A slightly longer update this time ****!**

**Reviews make me happy so please leave one ****! This story will either have one or two more chapters and maybe an epilogue :O!**

**x**

**Metope**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

* * *

The first thing she heard was gasping. When she opened her eyes she found herself lying in the grass of the front yard of her home, in front of her was a crowd of towns people who were all staring at her with wide eyes and mouths agape.

When she looked to the left she saw how her mother was tied to one of the pillars of the front porch, Whale standing in front of her and Snow, her father and Daniel were held back by some men that were apparently on Whale's side, Rumpelstiltskin was nowhere to be seen.

"Stop!" Regina cried out weakly as she tried to get up to her feet again but fell down once again.

Whale looked to his left and his eyes went wide when he saw Regina lying on the ground there. Cora used this opportunity to kick the man in front of her who tumbled backwards. The men that had been holding Daniel, Snow and Henry got distracted by the sudden movement and so Daniel and Snow were able to break free from their grasps.

Daniel immediately ran over to the doctor and pinned him down to the ground as his fist collided with the man's jaw. Snow ran over to Regina to see how the girl was doing and Henry wasted no time to release Cora. The older woman immediately made her way to her daughter, and crouched down next to Snow. As Henry now helped Daniel getting Whale back up to his feet and led him to the sheriff's car of King George.

"Regina, are you okay, oh my brave girl. I'm so proud of you." Cora said, and her words were true, both Snow and Regina could hear it.

"Mother..." Regina said weakly. "You're safe." A small smile graced her face at the realisation.

"Yes my dear, that I am. Thanks to you." Cora said stroking her daughter's hair back from her face, frowning as she felt how feverish the girl was.

"Where is my son? Where is Daniel?" Regina now asked, Cora saw how the girl was forcing her eyes to stay open.

"I will go get Daniel, Malina – Maleficent, is taking care of Julian. She has cast some sort of protection spell over my apartment so Whale can't come in and do anything to him in our absence." Snow explained and then got up to go get Daniel.

* * *

Daniel immediately went with Snow when she came to get him, trusting George and Henry to deal with Whale. When he crouched down next to Regina she immediately moved away from Cora so Daniel could hold her. He pulled her into a tight hug unable to speak as emotion was preventing him from doing so. Seeing his wife so small and helpless hurt him like nothing else could, the pain in his heart only growing when he hurt desperate cries coming from his true love as the sobs shook her body.

"I thought I had lost you." She sobbed. "He – He said he would release me when my mother died, and he made me so mad with that, and then he started to say bad things about you and Julian and all of it together...it made me so mad and then I accidentally pushed him away with magic. And – And when he saw that he said he would never let me go." She cried. "I was so scared! And I feel so sick."

"It's okay Regina. You are safe now, we are all safe now." Daniel said softly as he rocked the girl back and forth in his arms.

"She needs to go to the hospital." Snow said, but Regina started to whimper as soon as the word hospital left her lips.

"Don't take me back there, please don't!"

"But Regina, you're ill. You need medical help." Daniel retorted. "Come I'll take you there and stay with you." But at this Regina moved rudely away from him and looked frantically around. When her eyes fell on Cora, who was still sitting on her knees in the grass – call the newspapers – she moved over to her mother. "Mother, "she cried. "Please don't let them take me to the hospital. I don't want to go back there."

"Regina, Daniel and Snow are right, you are weak, you're sick, you need help." The woman said softly to her daughter as she brushed a tear from Regina's cheek.

"But can't you magic it away?" Regina asked in a small voice. It made Cora frown, Regina had always repulsed magic, if she chose magic over the hospital that meant the girl was truly scared – traumatized.

"I could ask the blue fairy to take a look at you, I suppose." The older woman eventually said. "She has good magic." She then explained to Snow and Daniel. "She has the ability to heal people. Regina is feverish and probably dehydrated, she needs to sleep to rebuild her strength. The Blue fairy could bring her to sleep and probably lower the fever a little, the rest she needs to do all by herself."

"Ok, if that's the best alternative, I think we should do that." Snow said, and Daniel nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, mother." Regina spoke before she was lifted in Daniel's arms and they made their way inside the mansion. Snow stayed outside to help deal with some of the townspeople that had stayed behind.

* * *

When Regina woke up she saw how her mother was sleeping in a chair that was in the corner of her room. She felt a lot better and she tried to sit up, her movements woke her mother. A bright genuine smile appeared on the older woman's face when she saw her daughter awake. She immediately got up out of the chair and walked over to the bed. "How are you feeling, dear?" She softly asked.

Regina smiled a soft smile. "I feel...fine...I guess. How long did I sleep?"

"Four days." Her eyes widened at the answer. "Daniel has been by your side all the time." Cora continued. "I just sent him away a couple of hours ago so he could get some sleep himself. I will go get him if you want to see him?"

Regina nodded. "But – "She added to that as she saw her mother starting to leave the room. "first I would like to just sit with you, if that's okay mother?"

Cora smiled happily as she made her way back to the bed. "Will you come sit next to me? Like you used to do when...when I was still cursed?" Cora's face fell a little at the mentioning of the dark curse but she nodded and went to sit next to Regina on the bed and pulled her daughter into a hug so that Regina's head could rest on her mother's shoulder.

"I truly am sorry for what I have done, Regina." Cora started. "I should have never tried to keep you and Daniel apart. He is your true love, he makes you happy, that is what is important, I can see that now, and I want you to know that I will try as much as possible to not turn back into how I was before all of this."

Regina nodded. "I know that, mother. I can see you've changed already."

"You do?" Cora asked surprised.

"Yes, well...before the curse you were different than how you were during the curse. During the curse you were my mom again. You weren't the evil sorceress that you were back in our land. And – And you were willing to die for me..." Regina's voice broke as she spoke the words and Cora pulled her daughter even closer to her. "Of course I would die for you if it meant you would be safe, my dearest daughter."

"I love you, mother..." Regina replied happily.

"I love you too Regina." They sat like that for a while, Cora softly stroking her daughter's hair and Regina happily leaning into her mother. "Well, shall I go get Daniel now?" Cora then said as she got up of the bed again.

Regina nodded. "Yes, that would be very kind of you mother. Oh and...could I – can I see Julian too? I only held him right after he was born and I –"

"Say no more, Regina. I will go get your son. You miss him." Cora stated.

"Yes." Regina sighed, she missed her son incredibly.

Fifteen minutes later Regina heard the door of her room open and when she opened her eyes she saw Daniel entering the room with their son in his arms. A radiant smile made itself present on her face when she saw the two of them like that. She held her arms out for her son and Daniel kissed her forehead while he gently put his son in Regina's arms.

The moment she was holding Julian again she felt an incredible surge of warmth run through her body, as mother and son were finally reunited again. Tears of happiness streamed down her face. Gently she placed a kiss to his tiny head and then moved him over so he was lying on only her right arm. With the other she pulled Daniel closer to her and as soon as his head was close enough she pressed their lips together. Finally. She thought. Finally she could be happy. She had a father, a mother, a husband and a child, and she loved all of them so very much. _Finally_ they were all one happy family. _Finally_ they were together, and _nothing_ could break them apart.

**Fin.**

* * *

**Well there you go. I'm sorry this ending is a little bit lousy but I just lost my inspiration for this story like four or five chapters ago and it has been SO difficult to write for this story ever since T_T. I should have stopped when the curse broke, but stubborn me had to be stubborn and continue even though she didn't really know what to right anymore x'). But oh well, I hope you liked it anyways. I want to thank all lovely followers and people who reviewed this story! You totally are the reason that I didn't gave up this story, because I simply couldn't do that to you :P!**

**If you're suffering from StableQueen withdrawal now: Check out my other StableQueen story: Where do I belong or my HookedQueen story: A Bubble Bursting with Love ^^!**

**x**

**Metope**

**ps. A lot of people are asking for an EvilCharming fic.. I'm thinking about it...so if you have any ideas where I could take such a story (since so much is done with this ship already) tell me ****!**


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